Role of leadership and management in times of change

A few years ago I participated in an ALA (Association of Legal Administrators) conference that began by quoting the words of Peter Drucker: “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right thing ”. The speaker emphasized the need for both in a law firm: Leadership and Management.

Throughout my experience, I have learned that leadership is about giving: an example, attention, time, clear direction, and support. It is sharing the experience and showing the way to your team and then giving them the freedom to create their paths to success. It is setting an example of ethical conduct and consistent principles. It is sharing the vision and always thinking about what's best for the organization. And the most important thing is to believe, defend, and give the vote of confidence to your teams.

There are four general characteristics of the leadership styles: [1]

• Autocratic Leader - The leader dominates decision-making, often providing a final decision with the expectation that others will follow through.

• Democratic Leader: The leader leads a group to shared decisions where the members of the group participate in ensuring compliance.

• Laissez-faire leader: The leader provides a "let's leave them alone to fix it" approach that often does not solve problems, does not generate a final decision, nor guarantee compliance but avoids conflicts between the leader and its collaborators.

• Situational Leader - The leader provides a combination of guidance and support along with direction and structure, but adapts to the evolving needs of their teams

The leadership style will depend on the training, the culture of each country, and can change over time. Knowing your followers is essential to adopt the leadership style that encourages them.

It is particularly important to point out a new style of VUCA Leadership, the term that appeared for the first time among the US military, post-cold war. Some authors share that VUCA means volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, others, volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Times of change certainly require active people and organizations to develop the so-called "sustainable formula": (1) Emotionally intelligent employees, aware of their internal and external environment, committed, capable of adapting, learning and resilient. (2) Inclusive organizations that care about the continuous education of their collaborators and in permanent innovation, but above all, organizations that have VUCA Leaders, flexible, creative, capable of making quick decisions in a changing environment, based on data analysis in the use of digital tools.

It is vital to address crises or promote change through leadership, teamwork, and conflict management.

By their nature, lawyers are excellent managers: each matter requires planning, organization of work and teams. It is their role to assign and supervise the tasks, as well as to control the details until they deliver the results to clients. Therefore, the role of managers is to establish clear expectations to their teams and maintain effective communication, no matter if face-to-face or virtual meetings on weekly, monthly, or quarterly schedule. Managers role is also to reward and recognize the team.

To conclude, a law firm without leadership and management can be a real nightmare. Management without leadership is compared to a ship without a path. But with leadership and management, applying the appropriate techniques of organizational development, in crisis or the VUCA environment, can ensure the sustainability and success of your law firm.

[1] Charly Doe, CLM, MBA, Tracey Gallegos, CLM, Frank A. Macharoni, Jr., CLM, MBA, Daniel McCormack, CLM, Study Guide for the CLM Exam, Association of Legal Administrators, 2018.

Angelina Angelov