Assessing and understanding the risks your firm faces are only the first steps in developing an effective framework for regulatory analysis. The regulation research and risk planning won’t get off the ground unless it has firm sponsorship from the top of your firm down, which brings us to the focus of today’s piece: leadership.
What is a leader?
All professionals have experienced leadership in name, but few have experienced leadership in practice. We all acquire ideas of what leadership looks like and who a leader should be, but we rarely take a moment to challenge these assumptions to determine if those qualities really are best embodied by the person or people making decisions on behalf of a firm. Throughout the course of working with frustrated attorneys navigating process change in their firm, we hear the same refrains: “He’s not a real leader!” “She doesn’t care!” “They just want to be in charge of something – it doesn’t matter what!”
While the lived experience of these attorneys is critically important to understanding the culture and needs of a firm, the attorneys’ frustration is usually only the end-result of a leadership structure that has been built around the wrong principles. Most firms function under a “Top-Down” structure; in other words, the boss (or partners at the top) drip down marching orders to the staff below, who are meant to unquestioningly complete tasks. When this structure fails to work, because it is a doomed model, the leader wrongly thinks they are poorly equipped for their tasks, as does their team. The issue is not the individual and their failure to naturally be a leader that is only nebulously defined. The real issue is that the firm’s structure does not set up the staff to each lean into their personal leadership capacity.
Moreover in the intellectually challenging and sometimes murky context of regulation analysis, a special set of leadership skills -- what is sometimes described as thought leadership -- become especially important. Traditional "leaders" -- people who help others to develop the motivation they need to others to accomplish great things -- frequently frustrate themselves and disappoint others when they try to lead their organizations along the intellectually rigorous path to an understanding of the regulatory risks that might lie just over the horizon. This is not to say that these traditional leaders aren't smart people; they just lack the right strengths and skills.
A “one-size-fits-all" definition of leadership simply does not exist. A leader makes and grows into their role with support and motivation. Some leaders tasks will center on cultivating relationships and mentoring individuals; some leaders are adept at identifying and organizing tasks into an actionable pipeline to achieve tangible results; and some leaders are naturally equipped to inspire from the front of the room. No two leaders will look and act in the same way; but what all leaders have in common is their ability to know where they should put their energy to yield the highest results and where they should delegate to empower another to achieve.
What would happen if leaders could lead according to their strengths?
When a leader is allowed to lead according to their strengths, the best result for the given situation occurs. It is the only outcome that can occur because the leader is given the freedom to focus on the part of the problem they innately understand how to solve, based on their experiences, personal strengths, and intellectual skills. They have delegated to other teammates the parts those team members are best equipped to solve, too. And when the entire team is focused on what they individually do best, their best collective efforst come to the forefront and guides the outcome of the team’s work. Letting the individual team members be leaders, in their own right, ensures the best possible outcome for the situation because each person is doing what they do best.
So, what does this have to do with regulation analysis?
Simply put, your colleagues and staff members each contain innate leadership abilities that can be leveraged to analyze, research, plan, implement, and present solutions for each regulatory change your firm encounters, and the risks associated with them. Walker Clark has developed a customized assessment for each firm to assess the leadership potential of staff in critical roles. We ask questions and gather data to teach our clients how to really lead:
- Identify strengths and weaknesses
- Divide labor according to identified strengths
- Create custom tools each leader can use to effectively achieve their responsibilities
- Support the firm in creating a feedback loop to regularly and openly communicated needs, expectations, and motivations
Once key people are placed in roles where they can use their abilities and skills to achieve results, the results will speak for themselves. Each person will take initiative, produce results, delegate effectively, and bring creative suggestions to the table, because they are allowed to function in the role of leader in the way that best serves the firm and dovetails with their talent. In short, the group will transform from a group with a leader to a group of leaders.
Does it sound too good to be true?
Well, it isn’t!
Walker Clark offers a range of leadership assessment, development, and on-going support training to help position your internal leaders in the roles where they are best equipped to perform at their highest level. Contact us today for more information about scheduling an initial assessment or click here to read more about Walker Clark’s leadership development programs and services.
Sarah Max
