Penalty-taking in Soccer – Another Example of Practice Makes Perfect

Posted on 16 June 2014 by tonyreiss

World Cup football (soccer to my readers in the USA) is underway and the dreaded though compulsive penalty shoot outs are here again. Should you blast it or stroke it? New research gives the answer.

Liverpool John Moores University has studied this and have concluded that the ball struck hard and high in the top corner is unstoppable, even if the goalkeeper anticipates it. Apparently 90-100 km/hr is about right – harder than that and most players lose too much control.

Most penalty takers aim just inside the post. Unless it is well struck, apparently this has a greater chance of being saved.

Some aim dead centre, presuming that the goalkeeper will dive – but they look foolish if the goalkeeper stays there!

Psychologists believe penalty takers shouldn’t think too much. Thinking about trying to fake where they are going to hit the ball can mean that the feet, legs and body can end up in the wrong place.

Also the more we practise the more our actions become automatic skills. Apparently we create unconscious memories of how to act – particularly useful in front of 80,000 partisan, screaming people.

Statistics show that:

  • It helps to be the first team to shoot (there’s added pressure on the second team to keep up)
  • The so-called stars in the team tend to miss more often (added pressure on them?)
  • It helps to come from a country with a ‘collectivist’ culture rather than an ‘individualist’ culture such as England – The Czech Republic have never missed a single penalty!

Useful messages for those in professional practice?

  • Consider where your job requires you to be in an equivalent situation to taking a penalty (big client pitch, at the podium doing an important presentation, critical negotiation, etc).
  • Get your head clear and focus clearly on what needs to be done and how
  • Practise, practise, practise!
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What to do with Plateaued Partners – Become Elders?

Posted on 1 May 2014 by tonyreiss

wisdomIn my coaching work over the last 10 years, I’m coming across more and more partners who seem somewhat burned out!

For some it might be a case of them having worked on the same kind of deals repeatedly – drafting similar documents, negotiating the same old warranty and indemnity clauses etc. For others it might be the continuous pressure of delivering the chargeable hour numbers.

But what’s particularly worrying is that some of these partners are in their 40’s! They’ve got another 20 years or so before retirement.

This issue of what to do with the older workforce exists more widely. The changes in demographics are worth considering because they are startling. For example:

  • Globally, the number of people over 65 year old is set to double within the next 25 years
  • In rich countries, the number of people aged over 65 will roughly be half the number of people aged between 25 – 64 by 2035 (In Japan and Germany the percentage will be nearer 70%)
  • Better educated and higher paid workers are working longer – in the US, 65% of post graduates are working beyond retirement age (compared to 32% of non-graduates).

It seems to me that what’s lacking is a career path for partners that creates continued stimulation for them as well as space for the bright, ambitious associates to come through.

Early phase career options

Upon being appointed as a partner, the focus should probably be on building a sustainable practice. There could be a focus on building up a particular type of work or expanding a work flow from a different geographical location. In many firms, the admission to the partnership is already substantially based on a business plan that the partner has for ‘growing the cake’ in some way.

It is worth bearing in mind that partners seem to find it difficult to be respected in their firms if they haven’t built a practice at some stage in their careers.

Middle phase career options

I suggest that there are two broad career options for partners in most firms – management or technical.

The management route offers the following options:

  • Client relationship roles – managing the team and client relationship
  • Sector responsibility – creating a cross-firm focus on an industry sector (eg retail, financial services etc)
  • Taking responsibility for recruitment, marketing, managing WIP for your practice area
  • Practice group head – having accountability for delivering bottom-line results for a team
  • Central management – contributing to managing the firm as a whole.

The technical career route should be equally respected and encouraged. Firms, particularly those at the premium, added-value end of the market, need to have a reputation for being insightful and at the leading edge. There is a need for:

  • Thought leadership papers to be researched and drafted
  • Bulletins on important cases or on the implications of new legislation
  • Networks to be built with leading practitioners in ancillary fields (tax, accounting, banking, government, academia etc)
  • Conferences to be chaired

Later phase career options

This is where firms seem to be a bit stuck. For example, many partners who’ve committed to management roles find it hard to go back to fee earning.

So I have what I think is a good idea to avoid all that wisdom being wasted– post-plateaued partners who have lost some of their drive and energy for fee earning could become ELDERS of the firm!

In many communities elders are defined as ‘repositories of cultural and philosophical knowledge and are the transmitters of such information’.

Could law firms benefit from older partners adopting an equivalent role? They could:

  • Contribute to making ethical decisions about important issues, including conflicts
  • Be on panels for recruiting lateral hires
  • Carry out mentoring roles for younger partners
  • Be ambassadors of the firm in the wider community
  • Assist in 360 degree feedback reviews with partners
  • Assist in any discussions about remuneration or bonuses
  • Provide a teaching role, sharing their wisdom

Why waste all that insight and wisdom? Surely there’s a role for an elder or two in your firm?

For further insights into career paths for lawyers see https://tonyreiss.com/2013/05/14/career-progression-for-lawyers-transitions-and-reinventions/

 

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Bullying in the Legal Profession 

Posted on 28 April 2014 by tonyreiss

imagesAnother survey shows that bullying and discrimination ‘is rife’ in the legal profession, particularly at The Law Society.

The Times newspaper quotes findings today (28 April, 2014) from a poll carried out by The Law Society amongst nearly 400 staff which shows:

  • 16% of staff have been bullied in the past year
  • 10% claim to be victims of discrimination

What’s particularly worrying is that these findings are above the national averages of 9% for discrimination and 13% for bullying.

Also a previous survey carried out by The Law Society amongst the profession as a whole two years ago showed 17% of all solicitors claim to have been bullied. The figure was as high as 25% for government lawyers and 23% for those working in industry.

Not sure why this sort of behaviour should be more prevalent in communities of lawyers. But sounds like what’s needed is tough, but non-bullying, management!

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Which is More Important for Successful Selling – Credibility or Rapport?

Posted on 18 April 2014 by tonyreiss

The age old sales tip goes – in the first five minutes tell them something they don’t know and ask them a question that gets them to think. There’s something in that. After all you want the prospective client to be thinking:

  • Here’s someone who knows their stuff, and
  • Here’s someone who wants to understand me and my business better

Credibility is more about the ‘what’ and rapport is more about the ‘how’ and ‘why’. You’re unlikely to get the work with just credibility – lots of others probably know what you know. But without credibility you’re not at the table, with a chance of being asked to help the client.

Rapport becomes the key differentiator. A client will choose someone who they think is on their wavelength. Someone who they think understands and shares their values and beliefs – someone who cares.

How to you get credibility? Research and planning help a lot. Try to go to BD meetings with five key things to talk about and ask insightful questions. Three things might be about their market. You might have something to talk about relevant just for the organisation. You might have something just for them (reporting, budgeting etc). This planning and research gives you both knowledge and confidence. Credibility is more about body language than you might think. It helps to have a quieter more authoritative voice. It helps to be comfortable with pauses.

How do you build rapport? It helps if you transmit on their frequency. If you’re always transmitting on 98.5FM, you’re probably not getting this right. Be at their energy level. Use their language patterns. If they use short, sharp sentences and talk about taking decisions, do the same. Smile. Be empathetic. Listen with your eyes as well as your ears. Be open – this will encourage them to share more with you. And most importantly, you need to be AUTHENTIC. We can all smell a fake!

So which is more important? It was obviously a trick question – they’re both important! In the end, there’s another aspect that becomes the most important…trust. More on that will follow in another article.

For more tips on how to build credibility, rapport and trust see https://tonyreiss.com/2011/11/11/how-to-establish-credibility-build-rapport-and-become-a-trusted-advisor/

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Six Steps to Positive Habits

Posted on 15 April 2014 by tonyreiss

There are stages to our learning that have been recognised by others. We start off being unconsciously incompetent. As a young child, for example, we don’t know we can’t ride a bike. Then we get on a bike and become consciously incompetent.

Then with somebody’s help, we become consciously competent, having to concentrate hard to stay balanced turning corners. Now, most of us are unconsciously competent and don’t give the process of riding a bike a second thought.

Breaking this process down even further and applying it to professionals, I think we can recognise the following stages to the personal learning and development process:

  1. We know something is important but don’t believe it relates to us (I’m doing ok – it’s the other partners that need to do that).
  2. We know we need to change our behaviour but still don’t do it (we lack conviction because it’s difficult, inconvenient, or we unconsciously judge the risks outweigh the benefits).
  3. We know we need to change and want to, but lack the skills to do it.
  4. We know we need to change and do it but inconsistently (we get lazy or forgetful or distracted).
  5. We know and do it consistently (we’ve formed a good behaviour that we consciously cultivate).
  6. We know how to do it and make it second nature (it’s become part of who we are and a good habit has been formed).

For example, when it comes to giving constructive feedback to staff, most professionals know they should do it (ie they have got past stage 1) but relatively very few have made it through to stage 6.

Many get stuck at stage 3. If they ever get past that, stage 4 isn’t much of a problem but stage 5 can become a sticking point.

Those of us providing learning and development workshops need to recognise the importance of:

  • putting action plans together at the end of programmes
  • encouraging participants to go for the foothills initially, rather than getting the crampons out and attempting Everest (it can be so dis-spiriting)
  • involving participants’ supervisors to provide interest and ongoing support, perhaps by having objectives set which are reviewed at appraisal time – this is so important

Without these additional  elements in place it’s hard developing new habits which become permanent.

For more on this theme, see https://tonyreiss.com/2012/02/18/changing-how-we-think-feel-behave-to-be-more-effective-the-art-of-cutting-a-new-groove/

 

 

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Advice from a Mentor at Procter & Gamble

Posted on 2 April 2014 by tonyreiss

ProcterMore than 25 years ago, I received this advice in my first year in brand management at P&G:

  1.       Think strategy, strategy, strategy. Ensure your product and sales messages communicate an important and distinctive end-user benefit. That’s the key to business success.
  2.       Pick your objectives carefully and then concentrate on their achievement. There are only a few things that can really make a difference in the business. Find out what they are and make them happen effectively and quickly.
  3.       Run your brand like it’s your business – which it truly is. Deal with other functions as resources to help you achieve your brand’s objectives.
  4.       Keep your operation simple. It’s easy to do too much and think too little.
  5.       Constantly search for new ideas with solid business-building potential.
  6.       Concentrate on effectively training your people. There’s nothing more satisfying or important to the business than the full realisation of the potential of others.
  7.       Demand quality – from yourself and others (including external agencies). Dig deeply. Know what you’re talking about before you talk about it.
  8.       Deal with external agencies with deep respect. They play an important part in the success of our business.
  9.       Breed a spirit of enthusiasm in the attainability of the brand’s objectives – but remain critically objective as to whether your current activities are as good as they should be.
  10.    Always strive to see things as they are – not as you’d like them to be.

A lot of good stuff here, some of it particularly enlightened at the time (eg effectively training others, deep respect for suppliers etc).

But if we were offering similar advice to current graduate new joiners, would we change any of this for the current business world?

For more wisdom from P&G, see https://tonyreiss.com/2012/01/16/procter-gambles-7-selling-steps-a-traditional-approach-to-selling/

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How Henry Ford Would Run a Law Firm

Posted on 27 March 2014 by tonyreiss

old fordIs your firm considering a new strategy given the regulatory and competitive changes in the legal market? If you are, Ford’s wise words are worth reading. He was a relentless technological innovator, based on his commitment to creating “the best possible goods at the lowest possible price.”

He focused on making ongoing changes in design and production that would drive down costs while improving the product.  For instance, the inaugural Model T, released for sale in 1908, cost $825 (about $22,000 in present-day dollars); by 1916, he had reduced the cost by more than half –  to $360, while increasing safety, reliability and speed.

Many law firms could benefit from ‘doing a Ford’ and finding more efficient processes for delivering their products!

Here then, for your reading pleasure: some inspiring quotes from this remarkable man and how they might be relevant to law firms:

FORD: Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.

Reiss comment: How good are your lawyers at working together across practice areas? What about across offices? Clients will choose firms that can offer them a truly effective team.

FORD: Don’t find fault, find a remedy. Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.

Reiss comment: Firms can be a bit lackadaisical about carrying out learning reviews – both with the client and internally. There must be a way of doing the work 5% better or 5% cheaper. Ideally both!

FORD: You don’t have to hold a position in order to be a leader.

Reiss comment: There is huge scope in law firms for associates to be encouraged to be leaders on matters. Too many firms molly-coddle their 30 year olds. In many careers they’d be a vice-president of something at that age!

FORD: Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.

REISS comment: Too many partners think they’ve got to the end of a journey when they make partner. That’s just the beginning. Your careers are likely to ebb and flow depending on market changes. You’ll need to keep inventing yourself and keep learning to stay ahead.

FORD: If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said ‘faster horses.’

REISS comment: Don’t wait to be told what your clients want. You should know them well enough to know. Be bold!

Here are other great Henry Ford quotes:

If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own.

Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes shine to the stars.

Vision without execution is just hallucination.

Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.

There is no man living who isn’t capable of doing more than he thinks he can do.

A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.

I cannot discover that anyone knows enough to say what is and what is definitely not possible.

A business absolutely devoted to service will have only one worry about profits.  They will be embarrassingly large.

Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.

To do more for the world than the world does for you – that is success.

There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: make the best quality goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible.

Employers only handle the money – it is the customer who pays the wages.

Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it.

You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.

If you’re interest in similar thoughts, have a look at how Tesco (a large grocery retailer) would run a law firm at https://tonyreiss.com/2012/12/09/if-tesco-ran-a-law-firm/

 

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Getting Others to Follow You and be Committed

Posted on 17 March 2014 by tonyreiss

So there you are, a leader in your firm trying to get others to follow you. How’s that going? Ask yourself whereabouts on this scale your team members typically are:

  • Resisting?
  • Apathetic?
  • Grudging compliance?
  • Willing compliance?
  • Enrolled?
  • Committed?

My suggestion is that, unless you have at least got as far as enrollment, you will be finding it tough to get stuff done. Without enrollment, all the energy is coming from you. The others are just coming along for the ride.

So how do you get your team motivated and engaged? I’ve received the following responses from leaders to this question:

  • I need to provide a clear goal and a well-defined path
  • I need to spend time building their self-confidence
  • We need to have mutual trust
  • They need to feel I have their best interests in mind
  • I need to be credible, with appropriate knowledge and experience
  • There needs to be joint ownership – it helps to encourage co-invention
  • The work needs to be seen as valuable – what’s in it for them should be clear

These all seem valid thoughts. Leaders need the right skills and attitude to be successful in creating followship.

Leaders need intellectual and physical energies to get things done but also an interest in building relationships with team members and also a passion to inspire others.

What creates this passion? For some it’s just a question of looking inside and asking the question ‘what’s really important to me?’ For others it may be to receive more validation that your goals are worthwhile and achievable.

For many the risk of failure is their worst enemy. That’s where the culture in your firm might be the issue!

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Does your firm lack leadership?

Posted on 11 March 2014 by tonyreiss

‘If the eyes of your team members aren’t shining brightly, how are you being?’ An interesting quote from Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra.

I’ve just been reminded of this quote while working with the banking sector in Mauritius on leadership issues. A delightful island with delightful people and shining eyes.

On top of that, I had the pleasure of working with an old friend who has become a guru – well, he’s written the best-selling book on leadership, Leadership: Plain & Simple.

Here are some of the key messages from the book. They are so relevant to professional service firms.

  1. There has been a lot of hokum written about leadership making it sound complicated. It isn’t! There are simply three critical words for leaders to focus on: FUTURE, ENGAGE, DELIVER.
  2. Our careers have typically progressed through first being an operator, where our technical knowledge is important. If we demonstrate we can do that well, we then get made a manager. We then are given projects and people to manage and we have to ensure stuff gets done on time and to the quality that’s required. If we do that well, we then get offered a leadership role. But few people realise this is such a big and challenging transition.
  3. The most effective leaders have one step in the future. It’s just too easy to drown in the present too much with all those emails, meetings, important deadlines to deal with.
  4. Many leaders find their role challenging and get tempted to dabble in managerial or even operational aspects of the business. They’ll re-draft something or attend meetings they don’t need to or not delegate something they could. This massages their egos. They’re good at these activities. It makes them feel good. But who’s then doing the leading while they’re spending time on such activities?
  5. Top management are culpable in this chain of events. Despite sending their business group leaders on a leadership training course, they then give them 309 things to do by next Tuesday. It’s hard to have one foot in the future whilst baling out the leaking boat!
  6. Leaders also need to provide the bigger picture. A manager looks at ladders to see how they can get up them. Leaders check the ladder is up against the wall!
  7. To be engaging, leaders need to find their passion and ‘be up to something’. Ideally this passion should align their personal aspirations with what the organisation needs.
  8. Leaders should not be put off by the scale of their challenge or be overwhelmed by the issues in the present. The combination of truly caring about something and having courage and daring should be sufficient to see you through and keep you in leadership mode.
  9. If people aren’t delivering, start by asking how you’re being. Do you have an exciting vision? Have you done all you can to engage your team members? Are they just carving stones or are they building cathedrals?
  10. Enlightened leaders don’t just tell people what to do. That uses up so much energy.  They’ve learned to pull energy from their team members. That way they get real commitment – not just compliance.

For a helpful checklist on leadership for business heads see https://tonyreiss.com/2013/09/10/practice-group-leaders-need-your-feedback/

Getting Others to Follow You and be Committed

For more about Leadership: Plain & Simple see: http://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Plain-Simple-Financial-Series-ebook/dp/B00A8EZP26

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From Surviving to Thriving as a Practice Group Head

Posted on 27 February 2014 by tonyreiss

ClipperLet’s face it, the role of practice group head is a really important one. They are the skipper of the ship. Yet firms seem to put so little effort into developing the talent to carry out this role well. I’m not sure why this is.

If firms have talented practice group heads they’ll generate highly motivated  partners,  working well as a team and with a clear strategy. In most firms though, the position of head of a practice group is seen as a poisoned chalice! Lots of potential grief with few upsides!

Why is this? Mostly it’s down to the culture in professional firms. Management activities still aren’t regarded as a respected contribution, certainly compared to perceived technical expertise or client following. And that’s a tough one to change.

Sometimes the heavy hitters take on the mantle, perhaps because they think it reinforces their power. Often such people lack the skills to be effective leaders.

Sometimes the role is offered to the younger, more organised partners. They’ll get on top of the WIP figures, but will struggle to have the clout to deal with the more senior partners.

I think firms should attempt to recognise budding leaders earlier than they do. They can attend leadership develop programmes and they can shadow existing leaders and they can be given cross-firm projects to cut their teeth on.

So what should you do if appointed as a practice group head? Here are ten suggestions:

1.   Get clear what you’re expected to deliver and what budget you’re allowed.

Many firms tend to be a bit vague about what’s expected. This can lead to unnecessary stress for you as you wonder what to focus on and wonder what management are thinking of your performance.

2. Get support from management for any special challenges you might face.

If you are a more junior partner, it might be more challenging to deal with under-performance from a more senior partner or particularly maverick behaviour.

3. Try to get involved in succession activities.

I’ve commented on this idea above. There are potential roles such as marketing, HR, finance, knowhow partner that would be useful experience before taking on the big role.

4. Get a mandate to lead.

This is a critical step. Talk to each of the partners about what they’d like from you as their leader, and what they don’t want from you. By doing this you’ll effectively get a contract to be their leader.

5.  Develop a vision for the group and from this produce a 3 year plan and a 1 year plan.

This is best done in a practice group meeting. If you’re not confident leading this process, ask your BD support person to do it.

6.   Get partners to volunteer to lead on the various initiatives.

This works much better than you dishing out the jobs because they’ll be more motivated to the tasks they’ve volunteered for.  Get another partner to support the lead partner. This helps engender greater teamwork and means that if the lead partner gets busy on client work, the number two can fill in.

7.   Give praise where it’s due.

Firms don’t give praise enough. But a simple ‘well done’ often doesn’t work. Be specific and be timely.

8.   Be merciless on inaction.

This is another important point. Partners can easily have an excuse for inaction. Client work will always tend to come first.  But partners will have 500 or more non-chargeable hours in their budget, so there should be zero tolerance for not making progress on whatever the partners have volunteered to implement on the plan. It should be made clear that they’re letting the side down.

9.  Keep reinforcing the vision.

You might think that once you’ve told everybody where you’re sailing the ship, they’ll know it. Unfortunately it doesn’t work like that. Just like advertising, we need to hear the vision several times before it sinks in. One clever practice group developed a vision ‘In 3 years, we’ll generate £3million in fees and be in the 3rd tier in the directories’. This at least helped make it more memorable.

10. Be a good role-model.

Bear in mind that the associates and other partners will do what you do, not do what you say!

I believe most firms are missing a trick here. If there was more focus on getting effective leadership in place at the practice group level, performance would significantly improve. Is it really that hard?

Related:

Improving Practice Group Profitability – The Five Big Questions

Practice Group Leaders Need Your Feedback

Building a Successful New Practice Group – a detailed study into why most initiatives fail and the factors critical for success

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