What makes a good lawyer? Some may think that their legal acumen and technical skills may suffice, but there’s so much more. There, also, has to be some finesse to navigate managing people and getting the best out of them. In the pursuit of justice, there ought to also be a focus on nurturing one’s leadership skills and fostering this amongst lawyers may be a cardinal priority. The ability to lead, inspire, collaborate and steer the ship is paramount to being a good lawyer, if not a great one. So, how can this be fostered?
According to Preeti Bose, Head – Leadership and Talent Development at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, “Leadership is universal, so, irrespective of industry or geography, a great leader can always be a catalyst and change the internal and external lens of a company. Legal professionals, whether they are aspiring or established, have to go beyond academic laurels and technical prowess… Given today’s climate around work culture and the aspirations of the young generation, it’s important to invest in lawyers being aspirational leaders, who can not only galvanize team members to be technically sound and stay focused on the needs of clients, but also be present as a human first and a leader second”.
So, what does an ideal leader look like in the legal space?
Bose remarks, “Leadership, for me, is a huge privilege and a responsibility. A lot of people might think you’re delegating work when you’re at a senior level and it comeswith its own trappings. But, it’s an immense privilege, because you’re not only getting work done through yourself, but through others. Often, people are looking at you, observing you and taking cues for their own personal and professional lives”.
“The strategy for leadership and talent development is to not only build current capability to ensure that people are able to do their jobs well, but also prepare for the capacity and talent pipeline for tomorrow… The most important thing, when it comes to lawyers thinking about talent and leadership is that people have understood that technical skills and the savviness of being a fantastic lawyer will only take one so far. There are so many softer sides of being a great lawyer that comes from learning and listening to others or doing the job well or taking constant feedback”, adds Bose.
Bose remarks, “There’s a concept of ’70-20-10′. 70% is just doing the job and learning new skills everyday. 20% is more about learning from others. Only 10% of our new skills and capabilities are built in classroom sessions or a structured programme. When we look at this entire 70-20-10, we realize that there’s a lot of focus on how lawyers build a climate within a team”.
And what are the kinds of challenges when it comes to inculcating leadership and talent in the legal landscape?
“Being a full-service law firm, even if there’s a programme, there isn’t enough time to address the challenges of each practice area. This is because one can’t get all the lawyers in a room for a full-day session and that’s been extremely challenging, so sessions are crunched to between 60-90 minutes. Even then, the feedback is that they’re too long, because, for lawyers, there are client calls and exigencies. So, we try to make the most of these constraints. And not everyone may think it’s important to be a part of these sessions; some people might assume that they don’t need any development, so we leave it at that, because there’s no point pushing somebody to get into a training room. Learning needs to be a pull factor, not a push factor”, opines Bose.
“What we’re gunning for is a breed of lawyers who aren’t just technically fantastic, they’re, also, inspirational leaders. As they grow, they need to be better at teamwork and collaboration. It’s a framework that we’ve leveraged for multiple years now. It’s called ‘T-shaped capability-building’. As one is growing in their career, the vertical part of the ‘T’ is functional skills and technical skills and the lateral part of the ‘T’ is your leadership skills, the ability to be strategic, look at the big picture, paint inspiration and vision for your team members and your organization and be fantastic listeners”, declares Bose.
Watch the full interaction here:
