Do you have the communication skills to be a great leader?

An old judge loved to tell young lawyers that "you can be the greatest lawyer in the world, but if you don't have any clients, nobody will know". Likewise, as a leader, you can have great passion for your job but, without the ability to communicate that passion to your constituency, you will have little success.

Great communicators come in all ?sizes and with all types of personalities. Both extroverts and introverts make ?good communicators and leaders; the ?trick is to fit your communication style to your personality.

If you find it difficult to talk to large groups, focus on one-on-one meetings, while minimising cheerleading before the masses. Conversely, if you enjoy public speaking, seize the bully pulpit at every opportunity, but never miss the chance to meet one-on-one with a partner.

Find a style that works for you, and use it. More important than the method is the result.

Sending a message

In order to communicate, you must have something to say. That means that, as managing partner, you need to create a clear message that you take to the firm, from the senior partners to the people in the mailroom and everyone in-between. The message and its importance must resonate with everyone in the firm.

Identify two, three or four things that are important. Every time you talk to the firm or your partners, emphasise those important points and discuss how the firm can achieve them. Constant repetition ?will help your points to increasingly resonate with lawyers. They will begin to understand that achieving those goals helps both them and the firm.

Your message should be positive and easily understood. Lawyers respond to goals and big pictures. They do not do well with minutiae. Many managing partners suffer from a desire to get down in the weeds. But, if you revolve your message around lawyer to secretary ratios, expenses per lawyer and other cost-cutting steps, you will quickly see blank and bored looks from your colleagues. No doubt expense-cutting helps profitability, but it is not a message to use to build up your firm. Likewise, messages that dwell on numbers rarely motivate people to succeed.

Focus your communications instead on growth, strength and positive achievements. Stay with the big picture. Talk about new clients. Talk about the need to grow. Lay out a plan to hire lawyers that will make a difference, whether new associates or laterals. New clients, new lawyers and growth present positive messages to motivate partners and set ?a strong direction for the firm.

A two-way street

Communication is a two-way street. A good communicator is a good listener. Good listeners make good leaders. So, spend time with your partners, not only talking to them, but listening to them as well. To maximise the impact of communicating with your partners, whether by talking or listening, you must interact with your constituency.

In this electronic age, many leaders try to interact through emails. Life just does not work that way. It's better to talk to people than about them. Effective communication requires almost daily face-to-face interaction with partners and other lawyers in the firm. Anything short of that will undermine the message of your communications.

The mass email occupies the bottom of the food chain. The quickest way to dilute a message is to send it on a regular basis to everyone. People see it coming and quickly hit 'delete'. A message that is important enough to send must be delivered face-to-face, or at least by telephone.

Meeting face-to-face regularly reaffirms the personality of the firm and its members. What is important? What is not? Each partner hears why you stress certain goals. Get to know your lawyers and find out what they think is important. That knowledge will then provide you with the tools you need to motivate your lawyers to do a better job.

Remember, one size does not fit all. Tailor your message to emphasise whatever the listener believes is important, not vice versa. By communicating with others, you will not only make them better, you will make yourself better.

Passion and communication skills are the foundations of sound leadership. Without passion, neither you nor your firm will succeed. Without the ability to communicate that passion and motivate people to act, your passion is wasted. Show your passion on a day-to-day basis and communicate that passion to your partners and staff. Success will follow.

Leadership thought for the month: ?"You can tread water only so long ?before you sink."

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