It depends on who is an effective leader. Sometimes you can find it within the firm. But it does not have to be a lawyer.
According to Peter Drucker, here are the 9 practices of effective leaders.
1. They asked, “What needs to be done?”
2. They asked, “What is right for the enterprise?”
3. They developed action plans
4. They took responsibility for decisions
5. They took responsibility for communicating
6. They were focused on opportunities rather than problems
7. They ran productive meetings
8. They thought and said “we” rather than “I”
9. They listened first, spoke last.
Sometimes the lawyers can do this. However, the legal training runs contrary to #6 which makes effective leadership a challenge. And if they are still practicing, it is hard to do #2 since some of the focus is in keeping your own practice alive than what is best for the firm.
Many thanks for such a thoughtful reply. Citing Drucker can never be a bad thing!
May I take this opportunity to ask readers to reflect on ##2, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9 above? If you take those seriously–as in seriously–are lawyers up to the task of running organizations which may be facing not firm-dislocating market forces but industry-wide disruption?
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It depends on who is an effective leader. Sometimes you can find it within the firm. But it does not have to be a lawyer.
According to Peter Drucker, here are the 9 practices of effective leaders.
1. They asked, “What needs to be done?”
2. They asked, “What is right for the enterprise?”
3. They developed action plans
4. They took responsibility for decisions
5. They took responsibility for communicating
6. They were focused on opportunities rather than problems
7. They ran productive meetings
8. They thought and said “we” rather than “I”
9. They listened first, spoke last.
Sometimes the lawyers can do this. However, the legal training runs contrary to #6 which makes effective leadership a challenge. And if they are still practicing, it is hard to do #2 since some of the focus is in keeping your own practice alive than what is best for the firm.
Many thanks for such a thoughtful reply. Citing Drucker can never be a bad thing!
May I take this opportunity to ask readers to reflect on ##2, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9 above? If you take those seriously–as in seriously–are lawyers up to the task of running organizations which may be facing not firm-dislocating market forces but industry-wide disruption?