In one of the most remarkable publications ever done for the professional firm leader, The Edge Group – Patrick McKenna and Gerry Riskin – get closer to the core of professional firm management than has ever been done before in print.(http://www.practicecoach.ai.They call it Herding Cats© [click here to order from Amazon.com], simply because lawyers and accountants have always likened the job of managing a firm of professionals to "herding cats."

In a succinct 46 pages, these two brilliant consultants (The Edge Group is probably the leading professional firm consulting group in the world) describe the crux of firm management. Herewith the first four chapters of Herding Cats, reprinted with permission of The Edge Group, with the rest to be serialized in subsequent issues of The Marcus Letter. Full copies of Herding Cats are available for a ridiculously low cost directly from The Edge Group, at 1 800 944-3343.

Y o u r  i n t r o d u c t i o n

                 to C a t - H e r d i n g

                                            "Your firm

                        can never

be something

         the leader is not"

Give a synonym test and the words most closely associated with Managing Partner might very well be leader, charisma, and visionary. Now ask a respected managing partner, with a few years of experience, what words are most closely associated and you are likely to hear terms like coach, servant, and friend.

Whether in service to your firm as a managing partner or heading up a practice group, by now you will have heard all of the common cliches about how the job of working with and managing other professionals is akin to being the only fire hydrant on a street of dogs, like lighting your hair and then putting the fire out with a hammer, like nailing Jell-O to the wall, pushing string across a table, or (the one we most commonly hear quoted) "like herding cats."

This handbook is intended to be a catalyst to provoke your thinking and provide you with a working reference of what the job really entails. You will find no pompous concepts spelling out the quick-fix leadership awakening diet. There are no arrogant value judgments proposing one type of firm culture, compensation system, or leadership personality as being more desirable, superior, or effective than any other.

What we hope you will find is a rich menu of practical and inspiring examples drawn from our focus group research with managing partners throughout North America, our client assignments internationally, and our practice group leadership workshops that demonstrate the "best practices" focus of those who effectively get extraordinary results within their firms.

This handbook offers a set of leadership practices that are based on the real-world experiences of those actively responsible for "Herding Cats!"

Chapter 2

                a r e  a t  Their

        B e s t

            h a v e n 't

        you've Wasted

                            your time!"

The performance of any professional services firm is primarily driven by the performance of the managing partner and those professionals responsible for leading specific practice groups. From our research and work with firm leaders it has become evident that the essential quality of an individual in this position is the ability to inspire others to accomplish more then they otherwise would.

Since the job of managing partner is to help other professionals to be even more successful, firms want those who have a consistent track record for being generous with their time on behalf of others, even if it is not in their own short-term best interests. These individuals find ways to make people feel important and are highly visible moving around the firm meeting with everyone. They are seen as being approachable; they seem to spend more time with their professionals then might be reasonably expected

They are seen as highly competent. They are usually experts in some area of practice. They are seen as credible, trustworthy (as evidenced by their doing what they promise to do,) and are viewed as people with advice that is sound when guidance is required

Since a major role of the leader is to assist others in the firm to win the trust and confidence of their clients, the most effective leaders are those whom others might call upon to help out and strategize in situations involving difficult client interactions.

A leader is that individual who has innovative ideas, who is more concerned with how to make the firm "better" than simply how to make the firm bigger; concerned with how to develop collaborative teams, how to provide a mutually supportive environment for all of the people; and who has a concrete action plan that can deliver on those goals. Leaders make time to get to know their people. The best leaders inspire others to extraordinary efforts by helping them find the excitement, the challenge, the fulfillment in what they do. The best leaders really care about their firms’ being recognized as the best. They set high expectations. Managing partners see and describe more potential for their people than individuals might perceive for themselves. They support the champions. They help people advance ideas even when some power partners in the firm might be highly skeptical. They have a sense of fun and humour. The good managing partners seem to take their job very seriously, but not themselves.

Ask yourself this question: "Am I in this position to do something, or am I in this position for something to do?" Now, take out a piece of paper, label it "What I want to accomplish." and make a list of all of the things that you want to achieve during your term of office. Keep a journal of your thoughts, ideas, and improvement efforts.

Chapter 3

Get to know each

Individual cat

"It’s a

matter of mutual

investment."

There can be no real glue holding a firm together and certainly no leadership, without some degree of intimacy -- some human acknowledgement of one another; that we are all people, each one with a unique story, unique difficulties and unique dreams. Leaders must see into the heads and hearts of those they would lead. Those who think leadership is about the leader have it exactly wrong. Ignore the people and the people will ignore you.

It all starts with getting to know your people, their strengths, their shortcomings, their aspirations and their tears. There is no substitute for face-to-face human interaction. The very best way to get to know what other people in your firm want is to sit down and communicate with them about it - on their own turf. Listen to them. Find the common ground.

Take a personal interest. How many other partners know what day your birthday is - or even care? Get out and visit with your professionals in their offices. Explore with each of them: * What do you want to be famous for? * What makes you soar? * About what do you have a burning passion? * What work do you find absorbing, involving, enthralling? * What is your personal agenda? * What do you want to prove to your peers? * What do you most want from this firm?

Our professionals need to either find the work they love, or learn to love the work they have. They need to get passionate about their profession or get out. This is where many "wanna-be professionals" succumb to the "victimitis virus". "How can I spend time developing a practice that will make me famous tomorrow, when I'm only rewarded for my billable production today?" they sniffle. Some people spend more time planning their vacations then they do their professional careers.

The good news is that each of us thrives upon achieving some form of distinction specialized expertise or excellence in client service, or an innovative approach to client problem solving. It taps into the deep craving we all have to make a difference. The question that we must help each of our professionals face and answer effectively is: "How do you want to be positioned in the market and in the minds of your clients? and "What is clearly unusual, unique, distinctive and of great value to clients about the services you of for ? '

If their answers, in about 25 words or less, are not convincing to prospective clients, they need your help and guidance in working through the future of their practice and career development. You need to help them understand that the only true professional career security is in being more valuable to clients tomorrow than yesterday.

A painless way to do this might be to ask: "Tell me about your favorite client matter and without any modesty tell me why that assignment was special for you". Have them write out their major client accomplishments of the past twelve months. Have them consider exactly what they will be doing for clients over the next few months. Have them consider how fundamentally different that might be from what they did twelve months ago. Could all of this be the beginning of some area of distinction?

 Chapter 4

Become an enthusiastic

          Change

                                 agent

by a leader who stood

and said  "Let’s dare

to be conservative!"

 

It is said that we are now living in a world of accelerating change. Ironically, this is the past that somebody in the future will be longing to return to. Your job as the leader is not to react to change: but to create change. So why not enter the fray with all guns firing, all hands on deck, and everyone focused on the targets you have chosen. No one enters the Olympics shouting "Go for the bronze!" Pursuing the gold and ending up with the bronze is a noble effort, but pursuing the bronze and ending up in 13th place makes little sense.

If your firm's culture doesn't adapt - rapidly - everybody loses. What was unthinkable yesterday, is routine today, Trying not to disturb people, seeking to appease everybody by taking it slow and easy, can be the least effective move of all. People are not naturally resistant to change. It is not a function of DNA, heredity, or their university education. It is however, a function of the firm's culture and internal systems. You can not please every partner, even under routine circumstances.

Attempts at incremental change - "tweaking" the firm - ordinarily die for lack of energy. If you try to go slowly, bureaucracy and resistance to change will cancel out your efforts. So get radical. Take action that turns heads. Let your opening moves leave no doubt that the old ways of doing things are incompatible with what is to come. Leaders cannot ignite the flame of passion in others if they themselves do not express enthusiasm.

In fact, we expect our leaders to be enthusiastic, energetic, and positive about the future. Did you ever notice that while church dogma is more or less a given for any particular religion, the energy and enthusiasm of the parish priest, rabbi or imam can make an enormous difference to attendance at the place of worship.

Take your instructions from tomorrow; that is where you will find the answers you need. The window to the future gives better guidance than the mirror of the past A quick scan of the future tells us that your firm's very survival depends on speed. Competitive advantage will come from being faster than the next guy. The race is to the swiftest. Do not burn up precious time and waste resources looking backward. This is a time for action, not introspection.

Leadership is action, not a position. Proactive leaders will often pull the fire alarm when they spot critical changing conditions and fan trends into a looming crisis. Everyone is urged into immediate action. What external trends are you observing that should be causing you to pull the fire alarm and issue a call for action within your firm?

Even if you have served as managing partner for years, treat today as if it were your first day. Ask yourself, "If I were just starting in this position, what would I do?" Chances are you would do some things that you have just not gotten around to. Begin doing those things now

Pick one major project per quarter; implement one smaller improvement every two weeks. Focus on the do-able. Keep the urgency and enthusiasm for constructive change and improvement high.

Chapter 5

          Provide a Living

                          example

        "The true c o n s i s t e n c y

of leadership is exhibited

             in the t r i v i a l actions,

as much as

                                         the b e t - t h e -farm

        d e c i s i o n s."

Effective managing partners take advantage of the power of modeling or setting a positive example. They make themselves highly visible on a regular basis in a myriad of different ways and use that exposure to reinforce what they believe in, what direction they believe the firm should be headed and how they intend to get there.

As a managing partner, you have at your disposal a wide variety of "mundane tools" embedded in your daily message sending and receiving activities that can be used to energize and influence the firm's articulated values, direction, and desired behavior.

The time you spend wandering around the firm meeting with people is your most powerful tool. Nothing speaks louder about what is of bedrock importance than where and how you choose to spend your time. Where a managing partner spends time is not a matter of chance. Choices are made daily about what to do and with whom. From the choice of business development issues for the monthly breakfast meeting to the selection of performance measures to track on a regular basis, your selections over time send clear signals to the firm about what you believe to be really important.

Start spending 30 to 40 percent of your time on your most important strategic priority. Book up your calendar for the next quarter with activities that demonstrate your interest in and concern for that priority. Consider turning your partners' eyes to new horizons with a formal system of "strategic forums" designed to formally force regular discussions of key issues facing the firm.

One of the enduring questions, a subject of endless analysis, is how a large firm can best monitor operations spread over many geographical locations. One managing partner we know reduces all of the elaborate mechanisms to plain, old fashion face-to-face contact; he visits each of thirteen offices as many as eight times a year, meeting with different practice groups and support staff. What is your plan for providing hands-on leadership?

Find those professionals who are doing something that you wish more of your people were doing and hold them out as models of moving in the right direction. Let everyone get a clear idea of what you are looking for. Effective leadership concentrates on reinforcing and rewarding actions consistent with stated direction. "What receives recognition is clearly what is valued." People are keenly attuned to what is accorded recognition; even the most trivial manifestations.

Every firm holds numerous meetings and every meeting has an agenda, whether written or unwritten. The cumulative content of these agendas clearly signals executive committee priorities and concerns. The conscious management of your own agenda and your input into practice group meeting agendas, is another powerful signaling device. Also, the things that get your swift and detailed follow-up will always be perceived by people to be of real value.

The specific words used and the pattern of questions asked by the managing partner has an enormous effect on the firm's focus. You need to manage those patterns: people will read meaning into them. Why not target for what you want?

                                          Support practice

group c o l l a b o r a t i o n

                                 "No

                                  single partner

                on w i s d o m."

Leaders energize professionals to take action for the benefit of their practice groups rather than just for their own self interests. They show how everyone's individual practice objectives can best be advanced by working together. They structure coopera-tive goals and show how collaboration will allow the practice group to make the most of its resources. They indicate that in addition to individual rewards, there will be con-sideration given for the extent to which the group succeeds.

Effective practice groups are comprised of a small number of professionals with complementary substantive expertise who are equally committed to a common pur-pose and actively working to assist one another's professional growth and success.

Accept the reality that the practice group approach may take longer but usually adds more value and produces better results in the long term. Make practice group collaboration a stated performance expectation. Involve others in compiling a list of characteristics and benefits to effective practice group performance. Then hold profes-sionals accountable for cooperative behaviors and for contributing to one another's success.

Provide training for practice group leadership and for individual professionals to help them work effectively together in teams. In designing a practice group environ-ment, do not expect professionals to crave constant contact with one another. Do not assume people can or will work as a group merely because they have organized them-selves as such.

Understand that groups do not cooperate, people do! Create as many opportuni-ties as possible for individuals to get to know one another and work together. Provide opportunities for members of different practice groups to socialize together so that social bonds can drive cooperative business goals.

Find opportunities to visibly demonstrate that group collaboration works; that evi-dence the benefits that can be realized through cooperative efforts among profession-als from different practice groups. Identify a new client engagement that was obtained; an idea or methodology that was successful shared and employed; a referral that was effectively made; or some new initiative that was developed.

Effective practice groups meet frequently. However, if meetings are where minutes are kept but hours are lost, your practice group leaders may have a skill problem. Meetings should reenergize and refocus. Many do not. With the proliferation of prac-tical resource materials, seminars, and training now available, there is no excuse for poorly run meetings.

To Be Continued….