Leadership for Lawyers

International Leadership Conference in Denver - Oct 2012

If you are interested in practicing or teaching leadership, I encourage you to attend the Annual Conference of the International Leadership Association on Oct 24 - 27, 2012 in Denver.  I'm on the planning committee and I am very happy with the mix of keynotes, workshops and evening activities we've planned.  For more information, go to the registration page.

Speaking on leadership...

I hope to see you at one of these conferences at which I'll be speaking:

Professional Legal Management Conference
Atlanta, GA
October 17, 2012
http://www.atlanta-ala.com/en/cev/324

Marketing Partner Forum
Rancho Palos Verdes CA
January 16-18, 2013
https://westlegaledcenter.com/program_guide/course_detail.jsf?courseId=44296943

Association of Legal Administrators Annual Conference
Washington, D.C.
April 14 - 17, 2013
http://www.alanet.org/conf/2013

 

Law Firm Leadership: Managing Millennials

One of the most frequent questions I receive from law firm leaders today is "how should I manage this new generation?"

The Millennial Generation (born from 1981-2000) have been entering the workforce for more than a decade now. Baby Boomer and Generation X leaders are sometimes perplexed with this tech-savvy, multi-tasking and ambitious group of professionals.

Who are the Millennials?

The Millennial Generation are said to be "trophy kids" raised by "helicopter parents." Their parents — often Generation Xers who grew up as "latchkey kids" with two working parents or a single working parent — tend to compensate for their lack of available parents by becoming very involved in their child’s activities. Millennials are used to having a parent "helicopter" in to save the day, whether it is forgetting their lunch at school or, as I have heard, appearing alongside their child at their first job interview.

Afraid of communicating a negative self-image, parents of Millennials made sure that everyone is a winner in childhood competitions, so everyone gets a trophy in youth sports and activities. This is the "E" generation — a generation with high expectations of themselves and their workplace; a generation that feels entitled to a wide range of benefits from society and a generation that is highly enthusiastic about work and life.

For Millennials, work is not a place to go; rather it is a thing to do (and something that can be done anywhere, from home to Starbucks to the office). More than other generations, they will surf jobs to be open to new opportunities. In general, they have a distaste for menial work and red tape. While they crave feedback, they have difficulties with conflict and negative feedback. "Paying your dues" is something your grandfather did at work, and is not for them. One HR manager told me: "Some Millennials seem to want to fit their work around their personal life, and not the other way around."

Despite these negative stereotypes, Milliennials have a lot to offer their employers. In school, they were subjected to years of group projects, resulting in better teamwork and collaboration skills than prior generations. They are highly networked, skilled at using social and virtual networks to accomplish goals. They are optimistic about the future. They want to save the world and focus their altruism through volunteerism, pro bono work and philanthropy.

Perhaps the most vexing characteristic of this generation to law firm leaders is their attitudes and behaviors at work. To some Baby Boomer and Gen X managers, Millennials have appeared unengaged with work, aloof and entitled. These issues often arise around the issue of work/life balance. Millennials are perceived by Baby Boomers (who are sometimes seen as workaholics) and Gen Xers (who felt like they had to work hard to compete with Boomers) managers as wanting too much life balance and not enough work.

 

How to Manage Millennials

The goal in managing Millennials is to help them find the balance they seek while getting work done (and done well). Here are some tips on managing Millennials:

1. Be the leader. Have a clear vision of the future for your team. Clearly communicate expectations to every team member. Give very specific direction, especially for new team members. Focus on encouraging positive behavior and attitudes. Don’t forget your role as a mentor.

2. Give meaning to work. Demonstrate how work makes a difference to clients, the firm and the community. Communicate the why, not just the how. Find ways for your team to give back, including group volunteer or pro bono projects.

3. Give feedback. Develop a team culture where constructive feedback among all team members is the norm. Don’t wait until the annual review to give feedback. Integrate feedback into your daily management routine.

4. Share power. Respect their ideas and contribution. Find ways to give them a say in decisions and access to management without abdicating your role as leader. Focus on participatory leadership without making it a democracy.

 5. Provide a clear path for advancement. Provide options to advance in the department. Illustrate a career path. Promote from within as much as possible. Support learning opportunities, including LMA and industry conference participation. Open the doors for experiential and on-the-job training in other disciplines.

6. Reward and encourage. Understand what motivates each individual team member and find ways to reward her or his effort and results with personalized rewards. Focus on performance-based incentives such as time off, sports or concert tickets, additional training or conference attendance. Reward performance publicly and with fairness. How you reward people should reflect the values of the team and firm.

7. Be flexible. Understand that how the world works is changing and be open to flexible work arrangements. Focus on the quality and completion of projects, not location. Understanding that face-to-face time is important in many jobs, be clear with team members what is negotiable and what is not regarding work location.

8. Encourage team work. Millennials will naturally want to work in small groups. Communicate that it is OK to work in groups, with certain parameters, such as deadlines, work quality and accountability. Be clear with the limits you set. Find a conference room or other shared space reserved for team work. Track contribution to team work and give feedback to both under contributors and over contributors.

9. Create community. Millennials look to work as a social outlet. Find time and ways for team members to get to know each other on a personal level. Bring back the monthly team lunches, go bowling or skiing together, take the team to happy hour to celebrate a team success. Have fun.

10. Leverage their strengths. Look to the Millennials on your team to tackle technology-oriented projects such as coaching lawyers on how to use LinkedIn or Twitter. Let them use their extensive network to build relationships with peers in client industry associations. Plug into their altruistic nature to lead firm volunteer and pro bono efforts.

For Millennials who want to succeed in a Boomer and X’er dominated work place, consider this advice:

1. Learn the language of success. Understand the "optics" of your behavior, including use of smartphones, how you dress, when you arrive and leave work. Showing old fashioned manners, listening carefully and being grateful will earn points with Boomers.

2. Use your strengths. Find ways to leverage technology to do your job more effectively and efficiently. Be a leader in your firm and the community.

3. Build your network. Tap into your network to make introductions to others for business development.

4. Show initiative and autonomy. Most jobs don’t have a definitive checklist or path to get the "A." It is better to try and fail (and learn from your mistakes) than not to take any action at all. Communicate often and ask questions.

5. Realize that constructive feedback is a gift. Welcome feedback to improve your performance and career options. Don’t take it personally.

Whenever a new generation enters the workplace, a shift occurs. How people get work done changes. The entrance of this generation will be no different. How law firm leaders manage these enthusiastic, optimistic and ambitious employees will determine whether their teams succeed.

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Mark Beese is President of Leadership for Lawyers, LLC. He helps lawyers and law firm leaders become more effective leaders and business developers through consultation, training and coaching. Mark may be reached at [email protected]. Originally published in ALM’s Marketing the Law Firm Newsletter, July 2012.  www.leadershipforlawyers.com. 

 

 

College of Law Practice Management Futures Conference - Oct 26-27. Register Now.

The College of Law Practice Management presents the Futures Conference on October 26-27, 2012 at Georgetown Law in Washington, DC. Anyone interested in the future of law practice and legal business should attend. Click here to register

NEW MODEL LAW FIRMS
Big Law has never been the only option for general counsel. Today, many alternatives exist, including “new model law firms.” This panel will examine how these firms do business, practice law, differentiate, serve clients, and offer lawyers a different work experience. We will also hear from the founding visionaries on where they think the law firm market is heading.
Moderator: Ron Friedmann, Fireman & Co. Consulting
Panelists: Mark Cohen, Clearspire; Ben Lieber, Potomac Law Group PLLC; Andy Daws, Riverview Law, and Patrick Lamb, Valorem Law Group.

THE CHALLENGES OF DIVERSITY IN A NEW STAFFING ENVIRONMENT
Law firms are adjusting the traditional personnel model, reducing the number of equity owners and adding new tiers of service providers. But the challenge of diversity remains. A nationally-recognized expert in diversity issues within law firms and other legal settings, Verna Myers will address what legal employers can do to tackle this critical issue.
Speaker: Verna Myers, Verna Myers Consulting Group LLC, author of Moving Diversity Forward.

PRESENTATION OF 2012 INNOVACTION AWARDS
The 2012 InnovAction Award Winners present.
Moderator: Tim Corcoran

LEGAL ACADEMY RESEARCH PROJECT
Reports on two research projects underway at the Center for the Study of the Legal Profession, Georgetown Law: Integration and Fragmentation in the Modern Law Firm; Developing Attorneys for the Future: What Can We Learn from the Fast Trackers?
Moderator: Mitt Regan, Georgetown Law
Panelists: Juliet Aiken, Georgetown Law; Heather Bock, Georgetown Law and Lisa Rohrer, Georgetown Law.

THE CONSUMER LAW REVOLUTION
The panel will consider such questions as: How is technology changing delivery of legal services to consumers? How is technology changing how lawyers who serve consumers practice? Do we see signs today that consumer law developments are already doing so? Will constraints - for example, client or lawyer conservatism, immature technology, or ethical barriers - limit a more rapid evolution or a real evolution?
Moderator: Tanina Rostain, Georgetown Law;
Panelists: Stephanie Kimbro, Burton Law LLC; Michael Mills, Neota Logic, and Marc Lauritsen, Capstone

EXPLORING THE NUANCES OF VALUE
In 2011, a panel focused on defining value. Now, in this panel discussion, we take the next step, as law firm and inhouse representatives explain how alternative arrangements are developed and tweaked so that both sides can derive value.
Moderator: Aric Press, American Lawyer Media
Panelists: Toby Brown, Akin Gump; Mark Chandler, Cisco Systems.

FUTURE OF MANAGING PARTNERS
The future demands a new focus in law firm management. This panel, featuring extraordinary managing partners, examines the critical roles and responsibilities of MPs in firms of all sizes—and what the panelists see as the future challenges and opportunities in firm management, including managing talent at all levels and “getting things done” in ways that most benefit the firm, its people and its clients.
Moderator: John Michalik, JJeyEm Consulting and author of The Extraordinary Managing Partner, Reaching the Pinnacle of Law Firm Management
Panelists: Thomas Grella, McGuire Wood & Bissette, P.A.; Fredrick Lautz, Quarles & Brady LLP; Charles Vigil, Rodey, Dickason, Sloan, Akin & Robb, P.A.; Ward Bower, Altman Weil, Inc.

THE NEW NORMAL FROM THE GENERAL COUNSEL PERSPECTIVE
General Counsel face continuing pressure to control costs while coping with growing demands for legal advice. In a panel organized by the Association of Corporate Counsel, you will hear how experienced law department leaders respond to this pressure and what it means both for their department operations and the law firms they retain.
Moderator: Amar Sarwal, ACC
Panelists: Scott Chaplin, Jorge Scientific Corporation; Susan Hackett, Legal Executive Leadership and Eric Margolin, CarMax, Inc.

LEGAL SERVICES UPDATE
2012 has been a year of intense pressure on low-income people facing legal problems and unfortunately, intense pressure on the legal aid organizations that serve them. In these tough times, law practice management expertise and best practices are needed more than ever to improve efficiency, buoy up morale, tune up staffing and employ new technologies. During lunch, Jim Sandman, President of the Legal Services Corporation and a 2012 College fellow-elect, will update attendees on bleak conditions facing LSC and describe a new mentoring initiative in the planning stages that will expand the pro bono consulting the College can offer to legal aid.

Using Video to Market Legal Services

YouTube.  The word evokes images of cute kittens, crazy stunts and viral video classics, like what happens when you mix Diet Coke and Mentos.  It’s not the place where you would expect to find interesting and helpful videos on timely legal topics by some of the leading lawyers on the planet.  Yet. 

 Earlier this month I was a panelist in a webinar sponsored by the Social Media Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Legal Marketing Association.  Our topic was  how to use video in the legal marketing media mix.  My co-panelists were two brilliant marketing innovators, Adam Stock, CMO of Allen Makins and Adam Severson, CMO of Baker Donelson.  Adam, Adam and I have all used video to effectively market lawyers and their services.  The webinar was a primer on legal marketing videos

Why use video?

“Web pages that feature video are 40 to 50 times more likely to end up on the first page of Google” said Adam Stock, “Google loves video.  It is great for SEO”(Search Engine Optimization).  The Allen Makins web site saw an increase of 30% more traffic after they started to use video on their home page.  The site now features more than 150 videos. 

“Video gives you the ability to deliver emotion like no other media.  It is the best way to capture an attorney’s personality.  Clients hire lawyers, not firms.  Video gives clients a chance to get to know our lawyers” claimed Stock.

“At Allen Matkins we took an approach of experimenting by creating videos of types of communications we would normally do with clients. This provided us a basis for comparing the performance of videos to written/online communications formats. The strategy that we used and the results that we got are summarized in this video that was created for the 2012 LMA Your Honor Awards.” 

 

Adam Seversen saw an increase in web traffic of more than 500% once they started using video to promote their “Entrepreneurial Minute Videos”.  Baker Donelson sends a weekly email to a growing list to promote their Emerging Companies industry group, featuring a one to three minute video on topics of interest to entrepreneurs.  The practice group page quickly became the most visited practice group page on their web site.  The email featuring the video tip of the week also has attracted attention of traditional media and has been reposted on industry blogs.

  

“Well produced video on law firm web sites builds credibility for the attorneys and the firm” said Mark Beese. “Video is also very mobile-device friendly.  As much as 30% of law firm web traffic originates from a phone or tablet.”

When to use video?

The panelists have used video in a variety of ways, including:

-          Micro-sites promoting a particular industry or practice group.  Videos become mini-news stories to illustrate an aspect of the law or how a court ruling could affect clients.

-          Event invitations or announcements – Use a brief video to create excitement around a conference, seminar or merger announcement.

-          Community involvement.  Video is a powerful tool to communicate stories, including how an attorney’s involvement in a charity makes a difference in people’s lives.

-          Highlight and recognize clients of the firm (with their written permission).

-          Introducing a new service, product or solution to a complex problem. 

-          Email newsletters, blogs and throughout your web site.

-          Internal communications about a new initiative, service or practice group.

How do I start using video?

-          Start with something newsworthy.  Consider creating a video for what you might include in a client newsletter.  Promote by email, blog and social media.  Avoid boring “about the firm” or “attorney bio” videos.  Snooze.

-          Consider hiring a professional videographer/editor to start out.  Aim for broadcast-level production levels.  After you get a hang for it, considering buying a quality HD camera, editing software and training someone in your firm to edit and produce videos.

-          Animations, professional titling and graphics make a video more like what people are used to seeing on television, and therefore appear more professional. 

-          Be aware of small things that can be a distraction, such as background noise and bad lighting.

-          Keep the video length to no longer than three to five minutes.

-          Host your video on Youtube.com and imbed the link to your website or blog page.

-          Look to promote your video content through social media and distribution channels such as JDSupra.com and conveycontent.com.

Sample Videos:

Adam Severson:

Internal Launch Video developed for Faegre Baker Daniels to generate excitement and enthusiasm for the merger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KMPPU78hJE

Promotional video for a litigation conference invitation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLPGNwIbOUg

Entrepreneur Minute videos

http://www.bakerdonelson.com/emerging-companies/

Introduction of new lateral to firm

http://public.streamhoster.com/resources/Flash/JWFLVMediaPlayer/Flashplayer.aspx?media_url=rtmp%3a%2%2ffss29.streamhoster.com%2fbdbc%2fMarketing%20External%2fChris%20Sloan%2fChris%20Sloan_1024k.flv&pwidth=480&pheight=360&autostart=true&pmiuri=

Adam Stock

Legal Alerts. Changes in the law intended for clients and potential clients.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K2v8GZ1MbU 

Video Press Releases/Thought Leadership. Industry survey results and insights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ex7x2VSbK4 

Events/Thought Leadership. Industry developments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARMUxE4QEdU 

Community Involvement. Used on our website for clients and recruitment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4K4ReNZg3w 

Mark Beese:

Legal Marketing Insights –  25 Interviews of marketing and business development professionals used for online training and knowledge sharing.  

https://legalmarketing.conveycontent.com/

Holland & Hart's Business Class Series (video profiles right column)

http://www.hollandhartblog.com/