<\/a>growth and mergers didn’t make the cut, so what did? by marc rosenberg<\/i> i recently updated my research<\/a> on the role of the managing partner. how better to do this than to poll great mps from across the country? so that\u2019s what i did.<\/p>\n more: <\/b>partners: when to speak up and when to shut up<\/a> i received responses from 17 mps: three from firms with revenue exceeding $50 million; five firms were $20-50 million; six firms were $10-20 million; and three firms were $5-10 million. as i expected, i received very eloquent, powerful and somewhat diverse advice. make the partners effective. <\/strong>the common thread was this: as the partners go, so goes the firm. this is not to say that staff are unimportant because nothing could be further from the truth. but like any great organization, success emanates from leadership and the partners are the firm\u2019s leaders who drive success.<\/p>\n old-school thinking might have said, \u201cwe\u2019re partners. we don\u2019t need to be managed. we know our job is to drive the firm and we know how to do this on our own. we don\u2019t need or want help from anyone. in fact, we resent it if someone tries.\u201d<\/p>\n new-school thinking says, \u201dhogwash! everyone can improve their performance. sure, some partners are excellent performers on their own. but the majority of partners perform better when they are accountable for their performance and behavior. partners are not entitled to an automatic waiver from oversight and guidance on their performance.\u201d<\/p>\n our managing partner group feels that making partners effective is a critically important part of their job.<\/p>\n build great staff.<\/strong> firms today often say<\/em> their staff is just as important as their clients … but only the well-managed firms actually walk the talk. sure, developing great staff involves the hr department and the mentoring of partners and managers. but, it starts with the managing partner who must be active and visible in the firm\u2019s staff-building efforts. here\u2019s what our mp cadre said:<\/p>\n communications. <\/strong>not only making sure people at all levels know what\u2019s going on in the firm and what\u2019s ahead. it\u2019s also saying it in the right way.<\/p>\n strategic planning.<\/strong> it was wonderful to see this show up so strongly in the response. poorly managed firms often see strategic planning as something to do in your spare time. this attitude usually leads to poor implementation and accountability. but our managing partner group clearly sees strategic planning as integral to the firm\u2019s success and are highly committed to it.<\/p>\n management style. <\/strong>every managing partner has a unique style. what works for some may not work for others. we received an array of comments that i decided to group under the category of \u201cmanagement style.\u201d here are the group\u2019s pearls of wisdom:<\/p>\n what wasn’t mentioned \u2013 and this surprised me<\/strong><\/p>\n my interpretation of these \u201csurprises\u201d is this: clearly, these areas are very important and most mps are addressing them. but the five areas with the heaviest responses are more overarching, foundational and penetrating.<\/p>\n perhaps these three areas with the low number of mentions are seen as operational items and as such, aren\u2019t seen on the same level as the five heaviest items. another possibility is that managing partners see these three areas as subsets of the top five. in all fairness, i instructed the mps to keep their responses short and sweet. they listened!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\nthe group cited five main areas, not listed in any order.<\/p>\n\n
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