How do we get the best performance from our lawyers? By using a coaching style of leadership and management. I do not set out a complete argument for choosing coaching below, but I proceed on the assumption that you are not happy with your present management style and feel something is missing. For the purposes of brevity, I am assuming all your lawyers are qualified and reasonably experienced.This is obviously a crucial issue and maybe these days even more so than it has been. From the title, you might guess that I will be arguing that my first sentence should actually read ‘how do we help our lawyers put in the best performance they can?’ This is an aspect of management.

Traditionally, law firms have managed their lawyers by ‘command and control’, or not really managed at all. I needn’t dwell on the latter! The former is, I think, an illusion of control and not real control. I do not accept that by putting in rules, consequences and ‘being the boss’ that means there is control. There is a feeling of control which can be very comforting but, as I say, illusory. People will still do what they do. Increasingly, people reject being controlled and dictated to.

The reality is that we have to have some controls, partly as these are required or at least suggested by the Code of Conduct and good practice such as Lexcel and Investors in People. But I believe that to use control will give only limited success in certain situations and will not utilise the dormant capability of your people. Coaching is designed to help people acknowledge and then develop that capability, if they want to. If they don’t want to. then you can force some or most of it out of them for a while, but you will have a group of lawyers who are very resentful of you and likely to leave.

It is quite hard to define coaching, perhaps by its very nature. Most people accept it originates in the sporting field but do try to remove the normal image of a football coach from your minds! It is not like that. How did you learn to walk? I doubt you were taught, you were probably coached and helped to learn. John Whitmore * suggests coaching is ‘unlocking people’s potential to maximise their own performance’. It is not teaching and it is not mentoring - though mentoring certainly has an important place in the law firm arena. As Odysseus said to his friend Mentor: ‘Tell him all you know’.

It does amaze me how little we seem to trust our lawyers. They are professionals; keen, motivated, anxious to keep up to date and honest. If you do not believe this of them, then you must consider getting rid of them immediately and change your interview process, or get help to change your belief. Of course, you will check your belief is correct from time to time - after all, this is the real world.

If we trust people that we should trust, then we can help them take responsibility for their own advancement and compliance with your rules. If done correctly, there will be a dramatic reduction in compliance issues. Maybe the Solicitors Regulation Authority knows this and it is partly why they are changing to outcomes-focused regulation.

Changing to a coaching style takes some time, certainly months, but the rewards are potentially great. And you, as manager or leader, will feel much more comfortable that things are just ‘right’. But what about some pointers to start? Here are some:

  • Tell your lawyers that you intend to do this and ask for their help;
  • Explain that there are some rules (‘A’) which if breached mean dismissal. You can find these in the code! Most rules (‘B’) if breached mean that you and the lawyer will work together to see how to avoid that happening again. It might mean training, coaching or even a rule change if in fact it was badly drawn up. Many lawyers live with the horror of finding they have breached a rule buried in the handbook and are ‘out’.
  • When thinking of changes to the business, especially procedures or rules, ask the lawyers for their views;
  • When there is an issue, ask open questions about it. That allows the lawyer to take their responsibility and come up with a creative solution. It also shows trust in their ability; and
  • Share your plan for the business with your lawyers, ask them what they think.
The above is just an indication of the many things needed for a coaching culture. Coaching becomes a ‘way of being’. It is one of the styles of management and leadership that seem to be needed for law firms to obtain the best performance they ethically can.

* Sir John Whitmore Coaching for Performance ISBN 978-1-85788-535-4

Andrew Woolley

, an experienced family and business solicitor, founded Woolley & Co in 1996. Hestudied business growth at Warwick Business School and is presently studying for an MSc in coaching and leadership.