A client at a law firm told me recently that there’s a perception that coaching is like special measures – that you only need it if you’re failing in some way. She absolutely took my breath away and I realised in that second that there must be a real lack of understanding out there of the ways in which one-to-one coaching can turbo-charge performance and increase revenue for law firms.
Coaching is not about fixing people – at its most basic level, it’s about finding out what’s holding people back and helping them to step up to the next level or resolve issues more quickly and effectively.
The best way to understand how investing in coaching could improve your profitability, improve retention and enhance well-being is to talk about some real life examples of why you might choose it and what you might achieve, so here goes!
The brilliant legal director who’s stepping up to partner
You know the scenario. You had a brilliant legal director – let’s call him James – but now that he’s been made partner, he’s struggling to step away from his client work (his comfort zone and what he’s been rewarded for until now). He worries about his chargeable hours, he’s too much in the detail, he’s still approving the team holidays and micro-managing the assistants. He’s not spending enough time on business development, building a strategy for the practice, sharing his vision, networking….etc etc.
You’re frustrated because you had high hopes for James and you thought he would hit the ground running, but it’s taking time for him to make the changes he needs to make in order to thrive as a partner.
The normal course of action is to leave James to it and hope he figures it out. The more financially astute course of action is to line James up with a coach.
Why? Because something’s holding James back. He has some insecurities, some doubts or some uncertainties. He’s not quite sure how to be the leader he needs to be, or he’s not brilliant at networking and he’s not sure how else to bring in business.
In a real life James scenario, I’d find out confidentially what’s holding him back. Usually, it’s a confidence issues around losing control and things going wrong as a result. I’d work with him to figure out what he can comfortably delegate, to whom and how, so that he feels more secure to do it.
I’d help him to frame good conversations to have with his team to set them up for success and when he’s done that and freed up some time, I’d help him to work out how he can do BD in a way that works for him and to build a strategy to begin to deliver on that.
I’d support him and build his confidence in a step-by-step way and you, his boss, would begin to see results after the first couple of sessions.
This works because rather than having to work it out for himself, James can admit what he’s concerned about and ask all the questions that might seem like things he should already know.
Once things start to work for him, James’ confidence will grow and he’ll be back to thriving again. His team will be happier and he’ll be winning new business…or at least able to demonstrate that he’s on track to do that. Money well spent.
The established partner who’s struggling with something
Let’s call her Louise. She’s been a partner for a long time and has a very successful practice, but she’s got a real problem with a team member who’s causing problems across the practice or her new business is a bit lacklustre all of a sudden.
For a senior person, this can be a really lonely place to be. You can’t talk to many people about the challenges you face, either because they’re confidential, or because you don’t want to admit you don’t know the answer.
And while you ruminate, stress, worry, agonise, go round and round in your head about what to do, you’re wasting time and potentially reducing revenue. It’s terribly inefficient to allow this to happen, when a few sessions with an experienced coach could unlock the solution and shift Louise back to confident action.
On the toxic team member, I’d work with Louise to get under the skin of what’s going on and why. Why is the person causing problems? What’s going on for them? How are they seeing their place in the team? What might they be aggrieved about?
I’d work with Louise to build a strategy to deal with the situation and help her to frame some good conversations to have with the person, and give her space to practice those conversations and plan for the outcomes.
On the BD front, I’d brainstorm with Louise and try to find options that she has overlooked or hasn’t thought of, and I’d help her to build a strategy to go out and find those new clients.
Generally the Louises of the world will be energised by this process and get their enthusiasm for work back. And that’s worth its weight in gold.
The senior partner who will be retiring in 2 or 3 years
The approach to retirement can be a delicate time for a law firm and it’s a dangerous time too. If not handled well, the approach the firm takes to retirement can cause resentment at best and loss of clients at worst.
Take the example of Bill who’s going to be 60 in 2 years. He might be delighted to retire, but he might have very mixed feelings about it, and actually want to keep working for a few more years to secure his financial future, or just because he enjoys it.
If Bill has the opportunity to start working with a coach a few years before he’s 60, he can think through what he actually wants, explore what his post-retirement life might look like and work out how involved he wants to continue to be with the firm, his clients and the law.
He can build a strong succession plan, work out what to start handing over and when, or frame a conversation around continuing to work and what he would like that to look like.
If Bill isn’t given the space and the time to think confidentially and strategically about his future, the business might find itself losing him to a competitor or a platform, taking his clients with him. Or he might fail to hand over work in an effective way, leaving clients unhappy when he departs, and his team struggling to cope.
Either way, the financially astute thing to do is to invest the relatively low cost of coaching in a satisfactory outcome for all.
In conclusion…
Coaching is an efficiency tool for law firms. At more senior levels in a business, it can complement training to support the specific needs of senior colleagues.
Coaching is tailored, confidential support that meets the individual needs of your high performers and ensures that they contribute at their full potential as fast as possible.
Professional Training’s reason for offering coaching is to help people to thrive, not survive, in their roles and that helps the businesses they work in to thrive in their turn. Coaching is all about doing better, quicker, and we can all buy into that.
If you or someone in your team could benefit from coaching, get in touch to find out more about what we can offer… email info@professional-training.co.uk.