Yes, lawyers can be leaders

“Show me a good leader, and I’ll show you a good business,” said David Novak, chairman and CEO of YUM! Brands. He is absolutely correct.

During my recent research into lawyers becoming leaders in business, I heard lots of excuses for why lawyers cannot lead – perception, being too ‘legal’, not understanding reward, not having the confidence or skills required. Instead of asking why lawyers should become leaders, I believe we should be asking why not?

Yes, lawyers can lead and yes, lawyers do have the skills to lead. I believe there is no skills gap or shortage in the legal profession when it comes to running a business. But we need more coaches, mentors and ambassadors.

It is time for the legal profession to stand up and express itself publicly; that in itself is leadership and we are not seeing enough of it. Regulators, law firms and general counsel should look for the bigger leadership picture and then articulate it with greater passion and optimism.

Not all lawyers will need or want to lead. But that is not the issue. There should be the opportunities and a platform provided for those who do want to lead.

Legal services are changing, but what has not changed is the ability of lawyers to solve tough problems, break down complex issues, build relationships across sectors and jurisdictions and run highly-profitable businesses. The competency set of senior lawyers, especially those running law firms or in-house legal departments, is similar to the competency set of CEOs.

Much is being done on the legal business training side. There are some excellent law firm training programmes in place, not least various MBA-style and academy programmes. These are to be applauded and encouraged.

General counsel should have similar training programmes in place and the various GC associations are well placed to provide these. I would encourage greater collaboration with law firms in this regard.

There is also scope for providing a private practice lawyer to GC training programme, and then for a GC to CEO training programme. Aside from enhancing the skills needed to get to leadership positions, it will create debate and visibility of the key issues around lawyers becoming leaders.

Whatever you do, don’t ignore the need and opportunity to lead.

Deepak Malhotra has been an international GC since 2005 and is now speaking and writing on leadership issues (www.deepakleadership.com).