Editor's Letter: Playing to strengths

Many would say that drive and determination to secure and retain work are vital characteristics of any law firm partner. But, with many type-A personalities rising through the ranks, HR directors have been trying to manage their lawyers’ more competitive tendencies by implementing partner behaviour assessment frameworks which emphasise collaboration.

While partners can generally get away with having sizeable egos and being sensitive to criticism – particularly those who have brought in substantial revenues – those who have climbed the ranks to managing partner have had to do some personality management.

As leaders of a diverse group of people, many managing partners have developed a whole new set of ‘soft’ skills revolving around communicating and consulting with key internal stakeholders. A key component of this is having a strong vision and doing what’s best for the firm, even if there are a few dissatisfied partners.

But, how far is an ‘attractive’ personality necessary to secure success in the job?

Clearly, managing partners need to be able to command respect from their troops. Those who have natural charm and charisma – together with the ability to genuinely consider the views of others before making a decision – may well find leadership to be a lot easier.

However, those partners who are outstanding in their particular area of expertise – but cannot tolerate dissent of any kind – will probably want to reconsider climbing up the next rung of the career ladder.

Wishing you just the right amount of sunshine this summer,

Manju Manglani, Editor

mmanglani@waterlow.com