Elect Your Managing Partner? Not so Fast.

One of the themes I recur to here is the indispensable role of leadership, and the ineffability of what makes a great leader.  Occasionally a leader will simply "emerge" as the breathtakingly obvious choice, a sort of leader by acclamation (although this is often so only in hindsight:  Lincoln, for example, thought he would lose the election of 1864), but in more ordinary times with more evenly matched contenders, there is no universally recognized standout.

One of the more important questions thus becomes, "How does a firm select a leader?  What is the actual process?"  For the Fortune 1000, CEO succession planning can be raised to a high art—or not—with the involvement of consultants, recruiters, etc.  Assuming that such a self-conscious and open process is not in most law firms' futures any time soon, is the traditional and seemingly straightforward election of a managing partner the optimum procedure?

Not at all, argues this consultant.  We know from conventional elections that hard truths are rarely the road to office, but a managing partner may need to make hard choices.  One who "runs" on a platform of more or less drastic change may be absolutely right, but he reminds me of Adlai Stevenson's famous quip when a supporter told him "you have the support of every intelligent American."  Stevenson:  "Fine, but the problem is, I need to win."  Being smart about the firm's situation does not automatically translate to electability.

What, then, is a superior alternative?  Imagine a consultative process where the firm's thought leaders are probed about what the firm needs done and who among their ranks might best be able to do it.  It is not difficult to imagine that such a procedure, undertaken of course with the most scrupulous integrity and discretion, could produce one, or at most a handful, of strong candidates.  Asking each of those candidates more directly, then, about their vision for the firm might narrow the field further.

Or, you could challenge them (as apparently happened with our consultant) and see what mettle they're made of.

The moral is that managing partners should not be afraid to lead:  Most partners want to practice law and serve their clients, and what they mostly need to know about the firm is that it has a vision of where it's going and is determined to get there.  They need, that is, a leader.