Why managing partners need to think more about themselves

I am sure that we all enjoyed our Christmas and New Year's break. For most people, it is a time to relax and recharge their batteries. Some use the downtime to catch up on all those tasks that they did not have time to look at during a busy year. I bet that you spent much of it reflecting on the past months and working out what your priorities are for your firm in the coming months and how you can do even more to improve your business.

However, you should be cautious about spending too much of your holiday time worrying about your responsibilities to your firm only. The relationship between managing partner and firm can become obsessive. A person who becomes a managing partner will, inevitably, be somebody who commits to the business and who is dedicated to what they are doing. Such a passionate relationship can be characterised as similar to that of lovers. But, a key difference is that a managing partner, unlike a lover, has a duty to put an end to the relationship.

As part of your festive reflections, you may have been thinking about how you look for a successor. Like the end of a love affair, you will find that the process of moving on from management can be a traumatic time. Hal David's greatest lyric could apply not just to the broken-hearted Dusty Springfield but equally to a retiring managing partner: "I used to do everything with you, planning everything for two, and now that we are through, I just don't know what to do with my time".

You have to think about your future; many managing partners do not. It is in our nature to put the firm first, before our personal interests. We think about succession in the context of the firm and overlook the impact that it will have on us and on our careers. This is a big mistake.

When you are considering the future management of the firm, you must also spend time planning your own career. In my experience, most managers leave this until too late and then find themselves in a vacuum, unsure of what to do with themselves. But, the time from when you start thinking about moving on to when you have established yourself in an alternative role can take up to two years.

Career options

There are a number of alternatives for your future which you can consider.

You could go back to full-time legal work. But, does opening another 100-page sale and purchase agreement or reading new tax legislation seem as exciting to you as it used, now that you are experienced in running a real business? Do you want to go back to being a backbench partner without the influence and status that you have become used to?

You may feel that the skills and knowledge that you have built up during your years of management should not be wasted and should remain available for the benefit of your firm.

You could you move on to become senior partner. Or, you could run a department. But, could you stand the politics of retaining a senior role in the firm without the power and responsibility? Would you find yourself wandering around the office fretting about what your successor is doing? Will you be like the song, saying "baby if your new love ever turns you down, come on back, I will be around, just waiting for you"?

Another option is to do something else outside of the firm and take up either a full time or part-time role. In this case, the key to your future is what Denise Healey called a person's 'hinterland'. Do you have other interests outside of your management role? Are you a non-executive director (NED)? Do you sit on the board of a charity?

Part of your thinking about your future must include an audit of your skills and activities. What do you do now that you would like to spend more time doing in the future? Should you be developing career opportunities well in advance of standing down as managing partner?

There are plenty of opportunities for those who have the skills of a managing partner. The obvious starting point is to offer your skills to another firm. There are undoubtedly firms which need your skills, although this route may throw up conflict issues. In addition, many firms are still suspicious of outsiders.

More fertile ground may be found among the many alternative business structures (ABSs) that are springing up in the UK and which need experienced management. Also in need of management are barristers; many chambers are years behind solicitors' partnerships in adopting modern management techniques. They will be naturally sympathetic to an experienced manager of a solicitor's practice running their affairs because of a shared background in the legal world.

If you do not want a full-time role, or have negotiated the opportunity to spend some time with your firm and some time pursuing other roles, then becoming a non-executive director can provide a rewarding challenge.

There continues to be a debate about why there are so few lawyer NEDs in the UK. It is very common in America, indeed it is a given that most corporations have a lawyer on their board. A managing partner is not an ordinary lawyer, but a person with business as well as legal skills. Many companies are crying out for our skills.

There are other organisations that will value your experience, such as in the charity sector. You can also look at other areas that interest you, such as politics, which is traditionally a popular arena for lawyers.

Planning ahead

My advice to all managing partners is that you owe it to yourself to plan ahead, for yourself. When you decide to step down, call in favours and build your networks. People are generous and will find time to talk to you and share ideas.

When I went through this process, my peers were very supportive. What I learnt during my period of adjusting from being managing partner to taking on a number of new roles was, firstly, do not make compromises about your future and, secondly, do something that you will enjoy.

So, if during the holidays you did not spend time thinking about yourself, then start now. Otherwise, one day, without warning, you may well find yourself humming "I just don't know what to do with myself".

Guy Vincent is a consultant and former managing partner at UK law firm Bircham Dyson Bell (www.bdb-law.co.uk). He specialises in legal and management issues facing law firms.