A tailored approach to your first 100 days as managing partner

A regime change presents a new leader with the opportunity to preview the future. At the national government level, the change usually generates a great deal of fanfare and rhetoric. A new president or prime minister faces tremendous pressure to effect change by embracing the platform that elected
him. Often, he uses the first 100 days
to create a momentum that will carry through his term.

The new law firm leader faces a
different and, in some ways, more challenging, situation. The nature of his role often precludes his making an early, dramatic mark. The culture of the firm,
his standing and other factors conspire
to prevent a grand entrance. Nevertheless,
he must use the first 100 days to set a tone for his administration. He will not have the opportunity again, so he must be prepared to take advantage of it.

Unlike the head of state, the new managing partner must tailor his actions to the comfort level of his firm. To be successful, he must deal with the facts
and circumstances of the change, the culture of his firm and the different expectations that he finds among his partners. In preparing for his first 100
days, he must analyse those three
situations and design a plan around them.

This article deals primarily with the facts and circumstances of that change. Next month, we will consider how to manage
the firm's culture and partners' expectations.

Strategic approach

The track record of his predecessor
often dictates the new managing partner's strategy for his first 100 days. Is he following a successful leader who reached
a high benchmark for the firm? Or does
the firm find itself at a low point? In the former situation, the change in leadership usually comes on a voluntary basis or at
the end of a term. In the latter case,
the firm often orchestrated the change.
The success of his predecessor's term dictates the new leader's first 100 days.

When following a successful leader,
the message should be 'don't rock the
boat'. The new leader should signal to
the troops that he intends to stay the course. At some point, changes will take place, but coming in with a plan to go
in a new direction when the old one is working will generally be met with a
reaction somewhere between resistance and incredulity.

The new leader still wants to make
his mark, but he should go about it in a
way so as not to threaten the status quo
of the firm. In essence, his job in the first 100 days is to assure his partners that
he will not jeopardise the firm's prosperity and success.

Conversely, a forced regime change dictates a different approach. The previous leader did not get the job done. In that case, the new managing partner must quickly signal that he will take the firm in a different direction. In effect, there is 'a new sheriff in town'. The new sheriff will bring about change that will either restore the firm to its former prominence or begin a course that will reach those heights.

However, the changes ahead
cannot focus on the shortcomings of
his predecessor. A strategy based
solely on doing things differently quickly makes the bad old days seem good.
The new managing partner must send
a message that things will change, but he cannot wrap that message in a criticism
of his predecessor.

No matter the circumstances, the managing partner must do two things in the first 100 days: he must set and then communicate his goals for the first year.
The fewer goals, the better. Lawyers understand straightforward, brief and
easily explicable goals. They respond to goals that can measure success or failure.

In addition to setting goals, the new managing partner must spend time with his partners. One-on-one conversations to discuss what he wants to do and how he wants to do it are invaluable. In those meetings, the managing partner needs
to listen but, at the same time, he needs to talk about his goals and how he wants to accomplish them.

The new managing partner should also spend time with staff, associates and paralegals. He cannot get too much face time. The rapport he establishes during those first 100 days can stay with him for
a lifetime.

Extent of change

In summary, the actions of the managing partner over the first 100 days depend
upon his predecessor. If the firm is successful, the status quo is a great model. If the firm is less than successful, change needs to be the watchword of the new regime. In that case, show change, but do not create anxiety by putting lawyers in a position that makes them uncomfortable.

Change does not happen quickly. In 100 days, the new leader can only signal that change will occur and that he has a plan to make it happen. He can stake out
a direction and begin the journey that will lead the firm to a better place.

Julious P. Smith Jr is chair emeritus
at US law firm Williams Mullen
(www.williamsmullen.com)