Feedback Culture in Law Firms’ MP-Suites

Most Managing Partners are not evaluated on their performance as their firms’ leaders. And many don’t even solicit feedback from their colleagues or outside counsel – for them the reelection process is all the feedback they need. But is it though?

Key words: Managing Partner, Feedback, Feedback Culture

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The Managing Partner Role will come with many Surprises

Even with structured succession planning, a guided orientation period, and proper preparation from the outgoing managing partner, the position will bring many surprises to his or her successor. Managing partners will be confronted with numerous situations for which they have not been (and maybe could not have been) prepared. Therefore, incumbent managing partners should constantly seek feedback on their job performance – independent of whether a formal evaluation process exists or not (find out more in this article). In a study with 36 managing partners, most of them responded that they would not be formally evaluated. However, some claimed that they would do regular feedback rounds in order to learn the partners’ opinion on their job performance. Others, however, stated that they do not solicit any feedback – in their opinion reelection or being fired from the position is enough of an assessment. According to Kouzes & Posner, such behavior is not unusual:

«The feedback process strikes at a tension between two basic human needs: the need to learn and grow versus the need to be accepted just the way you are. Consequently, even what seems like a mild, gentle, or relatively harmless suggestion can leave a person feeling angry, anxious, poorly treated, or profoundly threatened. One major reason that most people, and especially those in leadership positions, aren’t proactive in asking for feedback is their fear of feeling exposed – exposed as not being perfect, as not knowing everything, as not being as good at leadership as they should be, as not being up to the task.» (Kouzes & Posner, 2017, The Leadership Challenge)

Reelection is not a sufficient Feedback Process

Therefore, while it seems to be human nature not to expose oneself to potential criticism, relying solely on the election process as a source some sort of feedback is not purposeful for two reasons: As one managing partner pointed out during the interview, the lack of recognition (from colleagues, partners, management, etc.) within law firms is one of the main sources for dissatisfaction at the workplace for many lawyers – including partners. So, why would this be any different for managing partners?

Additionally, the focus on reelection could lead to generalizations, i.e., that if the managing partner prevails, he or she supposedly did a good job, and if he or she isn’t reelected, the performance wasn’t sufficient. In the case of reelection, such a non-reflective conclusion will lead to no adjustments in leadership style and/or priorities in the subsequent terms, i.e. the positive points would not be addressed more strongly and the rather negative points would not be addressed accordingly.

Furthermore, it must be considered that the reelection of a managing partner is not fully related to his or her performance on the job. In many (esp. smaller and middle-sized) firms the managing partner position is not a contested one. On the contrary, it is much more common for individuals to 'sacrifice' themselves for the good of the law firm or the overall partnership and take on the position for a certain period of time. Or that they agree to take over for the sake of an ex- or implicit agreement that everyone will have his or her turn at a certain point in the future (find out more in this article). Thus, when a managing partner runs for reelection, there is a significant chance that no opposing candidates arise and that the incumbent firm managers will be reelected despite their potentially mediocre performance.

Grow with Feedback

Many lawyers – even managing partners – have never had the opportunity to be trained or educated on management or leadership issues. And too much time passes between two elections, the results of which are of limited use as feedback anyway, which may go unused management-wise without managing partners proactively soliciting constructive feedback. For the good of their law firms, managing partners would therefore do well to invite feedback on their job performance whenever they get the chance and whether or not they find it comfortable. Or as Kouzes & Posner put it:

«There is simply no way to get around the fact that you can’t grow as a leader without getting feedback. Researchers have found that (…) ‘being aware of your weaknesses and shortcomings,’ they say, ‘whether you like it or not, is critical to improvement.’» (Kouzes & Posner, 2017, The Leadership Challenge)