Law firms often wonder whether they should implement a mentoring program. I recommend against it. Mentoring programs usually start off with a bang and then fizzle, leaving younger lawyers dazed and confused, and at least a bit cynical.
What does work, however, is to integrate good mentoring and coaching skills into the way your firm is managed. Aspects of this management style may superficially resemble a bolt-on ‘mentoring program,’ but it is a very different approach.
As a partner or shareholder, what is your job? Most of us think in terms of delivering professional service to clients and little else. Increasingly, law firms have some members with specific expertise in law firm economics, practice group management, risk management, and a host of other critical skill sets. Management in general is not seen as something in which everyone has a role.
Young Lawyers Can’t Go It Alone
Think about it, though. In most successful businesses, management pays a great deal of attention to the means of revenue generation. What percentage of your law firm overhead goes to pay lawyers for work they do? Businesses from old line manufacturing to high tech are adopting the slogan, ‘Our people are our most important asset.’ The benefits gained by focusing on this value are undeniable. Just ask Southwest Airlines and they own some expensive equipment.
It’s funny, then, that the professional services sector in which people are not simply the most important asset, they are just about the only asset lags behind in grasping this reality. Too many of us expect our assets to show up and paddle their own canoes. In fact, in the legal and medical professions, it has been a point of honor to survive the rituals of initiation in order to prove you have what it takes. How many of you received the Spartan advice, on your way to your first major solo experience, ‘Just don’t screw it up’? Or perhaps you heard this: ‘If you don’t hear anything, that’s good news. If there’s a problem, we’ll let you know.’ My very first trial experience is all too common. I lugged the senior partner’s briefcase over to the courthouse and starting arranging his yellow pads. We struck the jury. Well, he did, and I ventured an occasional whispered suggestion. When the jury was in the box, he looked at me and said, ‘Go make the opening statement.’ I guess you could call that training. On the other hand, too many of our colleagues wait years to take their first deposition.
Actually I was pretty lucky in having some excellent mentors during my associate years. But luck really shouldn’t have so much to do with it. One largely unexamined belief within our profession is that promising young lawyers will find their own mentors. Unfortunately, the truth is that the ability to attract mentors has more to do with birth order and demographics than with potential.
How does a firm create a culture in which mentoring and coaching become an inclusive process that is fully integrated with how it does business? There are three components: culture, methods and measurement.
Create A Feedback-Rich Culture
The most successful organizations are defined by a feedback-rich culture; that is, communication is inherent in the culture and there are systems to support it. Employees feel they know what’s going on and, more importantly, how they are doing because their supervisors tell them on a daily basis. That way, nothing in a performance evaluation comes as a surprise. Supervising attorneys understand that their job is to create learning opportunities across a broad range of skills. They also know the strengths of their charges, and where their challenges lie. Young attorneys know exactly what they need to do to succeed: to learn the business side of law practice, and how they can contribute to the firm’s overall success.
To create a feedback-rich organization, the Executive Committee, managing partner, practice group managers and other firm leadership must commit to and model the types of communication mentioned above. Second, firm members need to understand the real bottom line benefits of taking the time to mentor. The problem is that we tend to think in the short term. How many lawyers do you know who can’t take time to hire help because they are too busy? Getting the work done yourself is the right answer on any individual day, but when you string a bunch of days together, it is a terrible solution. That’s why leadership needs to provide the long view. For example, once your firm understands the actual cost of turnover, retention is reason enough for good mentoring.
Make Mentoring Methods Systematic
Good intentions aren’t very useful unless accompanied by skillful means. In other words, you have to teach people how to mentor. Certainly some lawyers have a natural ability and inclination to coach, but even those who don’t can be at least reasonably good at mentoring given the right tools. Management’s job is to align strengths with tasks and provide the necessary resources.
Mentors need to deliver effective feedback which usually requires some training. Lawyers may tend to see communication as a tool for convincing and persuading, but feedback needs to be delivered as part of a conversation, and it can be an uncomfortable one. Managers (read partners) should develop the habit of engaging in meta conversations with their proteges asking ‘why’ as well as ‘what.’ The more immediate and precise the feedback is, the more effective it is, and it is decidedly less painful than waiting for the ‘big conversation.’
Measure For Success
Mentors also must keep goals in mind. Decide what you want to achieve through mentoring and coaching. What skill sets do you want to develop? What characteristics do you want to foster in your firm’s culture? Have at your fingertips a list of the characteristics you want to foster. Know what skill sets need to be developed and which activities will help develop these skills. For example, if you want lawyers who are good at marketing services, they need to see you market.
Integrated Mentoring Can Help Your Firm In Five Ways
After you integrate mentoring into your firm’s culture, here are five outcomes you should expect to see:
Better retention and deeper firm loyalty. According to employment studies, a person’s poor relationship with her supervisor is the single biggest reason for employee dissatisfaction and departure. In fact, employees’ satisfaction most often is tied directly to their experience with the person they report to. This is especially true for Generation Y, a group of young people who need feedback and meaningful work. Older generations worked and kept our mouths shut, and we tend to think young kids should do the same. But they don’t. They just leave.
Improved teamwork: People who communicate work together better; it’s that simple. When goals are articulated, there is a sense of shared enterprise. Employees who feel they matter are more productive. Far less time is wasted in back office speculation and sniping.
More business development and more attention to client relations: The practice of law is difficult. It takes most attorneys more than three years to consistently and effectively wield the tools of the trade. Then one day they look up and realize that legal work doesn’t grow on trees, as our parents used to tell us about money. This realization usually comes as a shock. But it doesn’t have to not if their seniors have been including them in client conferences.
Increased business acumen: Many lawyers finish their careers without knowing what’s involved in running a firm. This is not to suggest that everyone can or should evaluate accounts receivable. But lawyers do need to identify business talent. Even those lawyers whose strengths lie in other areas can benefit from having an overview of law firm economics. The firm will also benefit by having lawyers who understand and support business decisions, and who know how and why they have to contribute.
Shorter learning curves: Obviously, people learn faster when taught. Instruction also saves time because those being taught don’t end up reinventing the wheel. If you tell lawyers what is important and how to accomplish it, they will be more productive. By rewarding good work and catching small mistakes before they can mushroom, your workforce will be more effective and congenial.
These outcomes aren’t as easy to measure as hours billed and collected, but they can be achieved. Firms can maintain data on turnover, conduct exit interviews, collect feedback from associates and young partners, and evaluate young lawyers on more than professional services. How well a firm develops young lawyers is essential to its long-term success, so participation in mentoring shouldn’t be accidental, optional or occasional. Partner evaluation should include mentoring and teamwork in a meaningful way. As a method of mentoring itself, the partner evaluation process can help lawyers improve their mentoring skills.
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