Editor's letter: Eyes wide open

The arrival of summer heralds the start of long-awaited holidays for partners and staff, many of whom will have worked around the clock over the past year. Many managing partners will also be looking forward to spending a few weeks getting away from it all.

As you lay back in your deckchair and close your eyes, no doubt the last thing you will want to think about is work. But, inevitably, thoughts of what's ahead for your firm will creep ?in. And that's natural - there is rarely enough time or head space during the working week ?to think about long-term strategy. It is often only with separation from the office that you are ?able to gain perspective, get in touch with your feelings about what is coming ahead and ?do some 'blue sky' thinking.

Your firm may have managed to post organic growth over the past financial year; it may even have achieved double-digit growth. But, is your firm's current business model and strategy sustainable in the long term? Margins are being squeezed, talent is being poached and some of your key clients are either eyeing up your competitors or have already taken ?steps to move their work to other service providers.

A new value proposition may be needed, but what would that comprise and how much change would your partners be willing to accept to make it happen? Not everyone will see ?the benefits of switching to a new pricing model, realigning services (again) or investing in a new client training system, for example. You know you need to come up with something that will give your firm a fighting chance of survival in the coming years - at the very least, to show ?that you are the right person to lead your firm into the future. But, are you?

You will have learnt a long time ago that being a successful managing partner has very little to do with being an excellent lawyer and much more to do with being a good manager and leader. It may have been a bumpy ride but, after some years in the role, you probably feel fairly confident that you are doing a decent job and that you are respected by your partners. But, is that going to be enough in the years to come?

You may have attended the odd training course and acquired new business and people management skills over the years. But, there's no guarantee that these will qualify you to lead your firm if and when it decides to adopt a more corporate structure and offer employees shares in the business, for example.

It may be that you will be required to have an MBA in future to be considered suitable for the role of managing partner. It may even be that you will need to have leadership secondments to client organisations to learn more about how your key clients run their businesses so that you can align yours with their best practice. Or, it may be that your role will fade out altogether in favour of a chief executive with experience of running complex multinational businesses.

Whatever happens, don't keep your eyes closed for too long.

Until next time,