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www.iltanet.org Practice Management 5 obvious as they might seem. Formal leadership development has long been a part of the culture of many corporations and institutions, and some have embraced it with an almost religious fervor. Conversely, it has only been relatively recently that leadership development has started to gain traction in the administrative departments of law firms. Vaughn Burke, Director of Human Resources at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates, described the high value his firm places on leadership for its administrative managers: "By placing a priority on leadership development training for our administrative managers, we have been able to equip high-potential employees with tools and skills that are aligned with our key business objectives and that have been employed by firm leaders for many years. Among the collateral benefits of formalized leadership development training are the creation of a forum for the exchange of ideas and an opportunity to build a support network of colleagues. The synergies that have evolved from these shared learning experiences have exceeded our expectations and continue to validate our training initiatives." Many firms now recognize the effects that leadership has on an organization's performance and how excellence in both management and leadership is required in order to achieve organizational goals. They have seen that by leveraging a series of best practices and monitoring for their corresponding measures of success, administrative professionals can immediately begin to transform themselves from managers to leaders. The ChArACTerISTICS oF LeAderShIP Leadership experts offer widely varying descriptions of leadership. Peter Drucker, author of "The Practice of Management" and widely regarded as the creator of the discipline of modern management, said that "management is doing things right, leadership is doing the right things." Colin Powell, whose reputation as a leader is impeccable, described leadership as "problem solving." Kenneth Blanchard, one of today's most prominent leadership experts and the author of "The One Minute Manager," said that "the key to successful leadership is influence, not authority." For the purposes of our discussion, we define leadership as the ability to inspire others to act towards the achievement of a commonly held vision. Although descriptions and definitions of leadership vary widely among the experts, an astute observer will notice a common factor demonstrated by successful leaders. These seasoned professionals have mastered skills identified as emotional intelligence (EI) by Daniel Goleman in his 1995 book, "Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence." He describes the following emotionally intelligent qualities: • Self-awareness (self-assessment and self-confidence) • Self-management (self-control, transparency, adaptability, achievement, initiative and optimism) • Social awareness (empathy, organizational awareness and service) • Relationship management (inspiration, influence, developing others, change catalyst, conflict management, teamwork and collaboration) EI enables a practice management leader to foster a set of skills that are useful in dealing with the everyday challenges found in the typical law firm environment. These skills range from managing the team to managing the expectations of demanding lawyers. Emotionally intelligent leaders are always mindful of these qualities and choose to apply them skillfully as they inspire others and move them toward action. Daniel Goleman and other researchers concluded that emotionally intelligent qualities and leadership skills can be developed, giving individuals the opportunity to transform themselves from great managers to great leaders. LeAderS hAve A vISIon oF The FuTure One quality consistently found in effective leadership is the leader's ability to create and communicate a clear vision of the future. A recent Harvard Business Review article by Michael D. Watkins suggested that "One of the top three critical dimensions for a new leader includes articulating a vision." Properly crafted, a vision provides members of an organization with a driving sense of purpose or an inspiration to excel. As an example, consider the vision statement from an AmLaw 100 litigation support department, "We will provide world-class service in all of our technical disciplines and become the best litigation support organization in the industry." This simple description of the future state of the department sets an admirable goal that all of its members can collectively strive to achieve. It also illustrates that a vision can be intensely inspirational when shared by all members of an organization. People will start to reflect and ask themselves what they can do to help move the department toward its goal. It is important to remember that having a clearly defined vision is just the first step. Highly effective leaders must gain "buy in" by flexing their EI as well as skillfully and relentlessly communicating their vision to others.