The Leadership Roadblock: Can Inspiring Leaders create Institutions?

Much of the discussion about law firm management move around the “herding cats” problem: lawyers are difficult to manage, they don´t like being controled, they are too individualistic, you should find the right compensation formula, etc., etc. But there is an equally important aspect that does´nt get as much attention: leadership. I cannot think of any really successful firm in Latin America that did not have a remarkable leadership steering the wheel through the troubled waters of growth and success.

“Herding Cats” theory would indicate that lawyers should not be fond of strong leadership. That´s against their autonomy and wish for self-control. Still, inspiring leaders have been able to achieve remarkable results in their firms. Why? Because lawyers need leaders to identify the road ahead, sometimes even more than other professionals, because lawyers have difficulty in adhering to collective ideas, such as vision, strategy or common objectives. When somebody inspires with a compelling and engaging idea, they might be ready to follow it, even if they don´t fully understand it. The thinking is “This guy is smart and believes in what he is doing, so it makes sense for me to follow and support him/her.” I have seen that happening and it is a powerful source of motivation.

I would even argue that the “herding cats” dynamic is ignited by poor leadership. Lawyers are difficult to manage, but specially when they are not inspired.
So inspiring leaders are beneficial for successful projects but … There is always a “but” with lawyers. The fact is that success and stability seldom go along in our legal market. In each generation you will find a bunch of very successful firms with inspiring leaders, but too few of them who continue to be successful across generations. The “but” here is that, more often than not, inspiting leaders develop gigantic egos, specially if they are successful, and that ego becomes a roadblock for development and modernization. They become convinced, maybe unconsciously, that they embody the vision and, consequently, that it is going to be very difficult for the firm to stay successful without them. They create, with their partners collaboration, the “indispensable trap”, so they delay succession or they do it poorly, producing a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Great leaders -not just inspiring- understand that all of us are temporary beings that are bound to grow and decline. So if the project is to become both successful and stable, the inspiration fuel will need to be transferred to a less personalized engine. And then is when successful law firms become institutions.

The fact that for inspiring and charismatic leaders stopping being the center and embodiment of the project creates a near-death experience, produces such a small number of law firms as institutions. But the truth is that it will be hard to face all the other challenges that the modern and global legal market is posing on Latam law firms until this roadblock is solved: how can inspiring leaders create successfully stable institutions? Given the statistics, the results don´t look promising, but it is imperative that both firms and leaders continue to work on it if we hope to develop a mature and developed legal market in Latinamerica.Much of the discussion about law firm management move around the “herding cats” problem: lawyers are difficult to manage, they don´t like being controled, they are too individualistic, you should find the right compensation formula, etc., etc. But there is an equally important aspect that does´nt get as much attention: leadership. I cannot think of any really successful firm in Latin America that did not have a remarkable leadership steering the wheel through the troubled waters of growth and success.

“Herding Cats” theory would indicate that lawyers should not be fond of strong leadership. That´s against their autonomy and wish for self-control. Still, inspiring leaders have been able to achieve remarkable results in their firms. Why? Because lawyers need leaders to identify the road ahead, sometimes even more than other professionals, because lawyers have difficulty in adhering to collective ideas, such as vision, strategy or common objectives. When somebody inspires with a compelling and engaging idea, they might be ready to follow it, even if they don´t fully understand it. The thinking is “This guy is smart and believes in what he is doing, so it makes sense for me to follow and support him/her.” I have seen that happening and it is a powerful source of motivation.

I would even argue that the “herding cats” dynamic is ignited by poor leadership. Lawyers are difficult to manage, but specially when they are not inspired.
So inspiring leaders are beneficial for successful projects but … There is always a “but” with lawyers. The fact is that success and stability seldom go along in our legal market. In each generation you will find a bunch of very successful firms with inspiring leaders, but too few of them who continue to be successful across generations. The “but” here is that, more often than not, inspiting leaders develop gigantic egos, specially if they are successful, and that ego becomes a roadblock for development and modernization. They become convinced, maybe unconsciously, that they embody the vision and, consequently, that it is going to be very difficult for the firm to stay successful without them. They create, with their partners collaboration, the “indispensable trap”, so they delay succession or they do it poorly, producing a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Great leaders -not just inspiring- understand that all of us are temporary beings that are bound to grow and decline. So if the project is to become both successful and stable, the inspiration fuel will need to be transferred to a less personalized engine. And then is when successful law firms become institutions.

The fact that for inspiring and charismatic leaders stopping being the center and embodiment of the project creates a near-death experience, produces such a small number of law firms as institutions. But the truth is that it will be hard to face all the other challenges that the modern and global legal market is posing on Latam law firms until this roadblock is solved: how can inspiring leaders create successfully stable institutions? Given the statistics, the results don´t look promising, but it is imperative that both firms and leaders continue to work on it if we hope to develop a mature and developed legal market in Latinamerica.Much of the discussion about law firm management move around the “herding cats” problem: lawyers are difficult to manage, they don´t like being controled, they are too individualistic, you should find the right compensation formula, etc., etc. But there is an equally important aspect that does´nt get as much attention: leadership. I cannot think of any really successful firm in Latin America that did not have a remarkable leadership steering the wheel through the troubled waters of growth and success.

“Herding Cats” theory would indicate that lawyers should not be fond of strong leadership. That´s against their autonomy and wish for self-control. Still, inspiring leaders have been able to achieve remarkable results in their firms. Why? Because lawyers need leaders to identify the road ahead, sometimes even more than other professionals, because lawyers have difficulty in adhering to collective ideas, such as vision, strategy or common objectives. When somebody inspires with a compelling and engaging idea, they might be ready to follow it, even if they don´t fully understand it. The thinking is “This guy is smart and believes in what he is doing, so it makes sense for me to follow and support him/her.” I have seen that happening and it is a powerful source of motivation.

I would even argue that the “herding cats” dynamic is ignited by poor leadership. Lawyers are difficult to manage, but specially when they are not inspired.
So inspiring leaders are beneficial for successful projects but … There is always a “but” with lawyers. The fact is that success and stability seldom go along in our legal market. In each generation you will find a bunch of very successful firms with inspiring leaders, but too few of them who continue to be successful across generations. The “but” here is that, more often than not, inspiting leaders develop gigantic egos, specially if they are successful, and that ego becomes a roadblock for development and modernization. They become convinced, maybe unconsciously, that they embody the vision and, consequently, that it is going to be very difficult for the firm to stay successful without them. They create, with their partners collaboration, the “indispensable trap”, so they delay succession or they do it poorly, producing a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Great leaders -not just inspiring- understand that all of us are temporary beings that are bound to grow and decline. So if the project is to become both successful and stable, the inspiration fuel will need to be transferred to a less personalized engine. And then is when successful law firms become institutions.

The fact that for inspiring and charismatic leaders stopping being the center and embodiment of the project creates a near-death experience, produces such a small number of law firms as institutions. But the truth is that it will be hard to face all the other challenges that the modern and global legal market is posing on Latam law firms until this roadblock is solved: how can inspiring leaders create successfully stable institutions? Given the statistics, the results don´t look promising, but it is imperative that both firms and leaders continue to work on it if we hope to develop a mature and developed legal market in Latinamerica.