Time to remove the hierarchy?

Law firms are inherently hierarchical, they have evolved that way, and this makes sense when it comes to having someone to take professional responsibility. But the flip side is that when it comes to good leadership and creating a high-performance team, there are times when the hierarchy just has to go.

There are some great learning and development teams in law firms, but no-one seems to have really found the key to creating great leaders who are still on the tools. Time becomes the limiting factor – the best partners are busy, they are on the tools, and leadership is too easily seen as something that gets in the way of getting the work done. This is largely a product of the time-based business model and a short-term budget focus.

For partners and senior lawyers who are really hectic it is easy to slip into the mindset of wanting your direct reports to simply provide you with everything you want, when you need it, perfect first time – and preferably without you having to instruct them! That hierarchical pyramid with the partner at the top. This does not lend itself to good leadership.

But even in the most hierarchical environments, like the army, there is recognition of the importance of removing that chain of command to produce highly effective teams.

There was a great study published in the Harvard Business Review, that examined the effectiveness of training US Army soldiers for combat.

As part of the ongoing training of US soldiers, an Opposing Force (known as OPFOR) was set up to fight mock battles and campaigns against the regular army (called BLUFOR). BLUFOR had experienced soldiers, a numerical advantage, better resources and more up-to-date data – in fact they pretty much knew what to expect from OPFOR because any intelligence, strategies, and insights gained by OPFOR in previous battles was passed on to the commanders of BLUFOR.

And yet, OPFOR almost always wins. Why? According to the authors of the study, the key was the way in which OPFOR learnt while in the thick of battle. They frequently held After Action Reviews at all levels. These were meetings where they examined what went well and what didn’t so they could all improve.

One of the keys to the effectiveness of these meetings was that everyone left their stripes at the door. That is, authority structure didn’t matter, the focus wasn’t on blame or chain of command but on performance. Because when it comes to being honest and really examining how teams can improve you have to breakdown those hierarchical structures which inhibit the truth. In fact, the focus for the senior leaders in OPFOR was to create a safe environment, being the first to acknowledge their own mistakes.

Maybe not a battlefield, but law firms are often very competitive environments, and there is no doubt breaking down hierarchy could provide some great results.  

If you really want to get the most out of your team, then maybe it’s time to think about creating some house rules for your team meetings whereby position and title are left at the door; and the only way to do this is to lead by example.

If you’d like to know more about how you can create a high performing team while juggling the many balls of being a senior lawyer, please get in touch.