Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/2923
www.iltanet.org Practice Management 7 Learn to Lead —the reSt WiLL FoLLoW members. Respectful, positive work relationships will significantly enhance team performance. • Develop Talent for the Future It is truly amazing to see the transformation in team performance when the team sees its leader actively supporting the growth and development of each team member. When you engage in this behavior, you are making an investment that pays large dividends to individual team members, to yourself and to the firm. There are many ways to do this. Provide training opportunities to learn new skills. Provide challenging and interesting work assignments. Succession planning helps to prepare future leaders. Mentoring high-potential individuals allows you to continuously challenge them while developing and building on their strengths. Step up opportunities by allowing an analyst to coordinate a project; give individuals a chance to operate at a level higher than they usually do. noW geT ouT There And LeAd! In 2005, management and leadership expert David Maister provided this description of administrative management as it existed in many law firms: "Professional firms tend to be very well administered. Administrative topics such as financial controls, cash-flow management, billable hour targets, receivables control and the like are in place almost everywhere and are deployed to great effect. However, all this is about managing money. Little or none of it is about managing people…" Today, many firms are working diligently to address this situation and this provides practice management professionals with a unique and valuable opportunity. Whether you are starting your first day as a new manager or your fifth year as a department head, it's never too late to begin to lead. The road to leadership begins by learning to believe in yourself and proceeds with the continuous process of developing and enhancing the qualities that help to gain the respect and trust of your team. You can expect many challenges along the way, but there are also many rewards. Effective leadership leads to improved team performance, staff retention and higher customer satisfaction. These are three measures of success that are of profound importance to any practice management professional. Learn to lead — the rest will follow. ILTA Works Cited Bennis, Warren, and Joan Goldsmith — "Learning to Lead: A Workbook on Becoming a Leader," New York: Basic Books, 2003. Blanchard, Kenneth — "The One Minute Manager," New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1982. Drucker, Peter — "The Practice of Management," New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1954. Goleman, Daniel — "Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence," Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2002. Maister, David — "Management: What it Really Takes," www. davidmaister.com, 2005. Senge, Peter — "The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization," New York: Doubleday, 1994. Stein, Steven J., and Howard Book — "The EQ Edge: Emotional Intelligence and Your Success," second edition, San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006. Watkins, Michael D. — "Obama's First 100 Days," Harvard Business Review, page 34, June 2009.