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.
It’s a cliché, but it is also true: change is the new constant. We live in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world where everything can become overwhelming very quickly.
Most of us are searching for certainty at some level, and this offers the modern lawyer with the opportunity to provide certainty – in the form of trust.
Too often in law firms a coach is only ever engaged for remedial purposes. The message sent to the lawyer is: you have a problem, you are not up to scratch, a poor performer; you can have a coach to ‘fix’ the problem.
Rather than seeing a coach as a positive thing, as a vote of confidence, a perk, an opportunity to maximise potential – which is much more in keeping with how executive coaching is viewed outside the law – the remedial coaching focus can create a stigma that makes lawyers more reluctant to engage a coach.
The use of executive coaching to enhance leadership, interpersonal skills and business strategy has proliferated in recent years. No longer is it a sign of trouble but rather a sign of the continual pursuit of improvement. In a recent blogpost, Marshall Goldsmith - recognized as one of the top ten Most-Influential Business Thinkers in the World - observed: “I have seen the perception of coaching shift over the last three decades: Instead of a punishment, it’s now a mark of prestige to have a coach. It means you’re probably going places in your career.”
