Law firms have the reputation of being—from an internal perspective—more
"command and control" organizational environments than the typical corporation.
Please, don’t get defensive: What Fortune 500 has "classes" of
"associates" that typically rise in lockstep until the climactic up-or-out
moment? Even top-flight management consulting firms and investment
banks allow for people who make Managing Director at preternaturally
young ages, and likewise for people who make tremendous contributions
for years on end without being put to pasture.
The always erudite, readable, and sane Warren
Bennis makes a point that cannot be made too often, no matter how
it fails to take with the Michael Eisner’s of the world, that the approach
of the Michael Dell’s of the world is the only sound way to build lasting
organizations where everyone feels ownership and a shared cause. Given
the price of even a first-year associate these days, how can you afford
to approach it any differently? Fungible commodities, in the long
run, they are not.
