First 100 Days - Transitioning a New Managing Partner - (Page 22)

Law firm managers are a confident lot, but they usually have little background to run a large b u s i n e s s they have no academic training as managers, and their instincts as lawyers usually a r e more of an impediment to success. So, in my view, new managing partners should begin with t h e humble recognition that they are not terribly well qualified for the job. J o h n T . M o n t g o m e r y Managing Partner Ropes & Gray LLP Boston I w o u l d emphasize the enormous value of a managing partner's listening more than he / she t a l k s , at all time projecting confidence and thoughtful optimism about the future, exhibiting e m p a t h y for the situations of everyone and understanding the difficulty of change - - any kind of c h a n g e , no matter how small. I believe that all four of these are very important throughout a m a n a g i n g partner's tenure. D u a n e C . Q u a i n i Firm Chair Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP Chicago Learn how the organization really works. The leader needs to know the mechanical aspects of d e l i v e r i n g the products to clients. In the end, the leader is responsible for having the trains run o n time. And, if your Executive Committee does not know where the firm is going over the next 1 o r 2 years, you have a recipe for disaster. Do not take the job. It takes a long time to make real c h a n g e in a firm. If the firm has no short-term direction, it will be very hard for a new leader to b u i l d the political capital needed to make change. M a r k A . M i l l e r Chief Executive Officer Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C. Milwaukee FIRSt 1DAY0 0S TRANSITIONING A NEW MANAGING PARTNER 22

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First 100 Days - Transitioning a New Managing Partner

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