First 100 Days - Transitioning a New Managing Partner - (Page 21)

of Sacred Cows make the Best Burgers to talk about the implications of old and tired routines i n an organization. We then divided the partners into groups, gave them lists of some of the hal- l o w e d by inefficient ways of doing things in the Firm, and and then asked the partners to use n o n - j u d g m e n t a l brainstorming techniques to come up with new ways to do things. The exercise w a s a win-win -win: the partners had fun, we got some great ideas, and we were seen as a c h a n g e oriented leadership team M a r y B . C r a n s t o n Firm Chair Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP San Francisco In those first 100 days you are still dealing with client transition issues, no matter how well y o u planned in advance. I believe it important to talk with and listen to anyone who was a critic of the prior managing p a r t n e r. While you may not agree with their views or move the firm in the direction they want, b y meeting with them you convey that their opinion is important and is being heard. I also feel t h a t if you do not hear from a diverse sampling of your partners, the information you receive s t a r t s to be filtered and you become isolated as to the real world about what is happening in t h e firm - much like a President may be criticized for not being in touch with what most A m e r i c a n s are saying. A lack of strength in finances / accounting will likely be common for new managing partners g i v e n the normal undergraduate tracks to law school and the utter failure of most law schools to d i s c u s s , at any level, the business operations of being in law. In this area, I have spent a lot of t i m e with our Executive Director being schooled on the finances; and have called in a business o w n e r friend to help me develop a dashboard view of the information that I need to know and m o n i t o r. S t e p h e n O . P l u n k e t t Managing Partner Rider Bennett, LLP Minneapolis Most managing partners begin with an ambitious agenda or they should to have any c h a n c e of success . The first 100 days is a great benchmark for the purpose of focusing on creat- i n g a credible platform to accomplish your goals. I believe it helpful for those goals to explicitly i n c l u d e both strategic and operational issues. There is no firm these days that does not have n e e d s in both dimensions, and a successful initial tenure ought to have one or two early success- e s in both areas. 21 

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First 100 Days - Transitioning a New Managing Partner

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