Contextual leadership is all that matters for today's law firm,
law school or law department leaders. Today's successful leaders
spend less time trying to influence others in their organizations
directly and more time adjusting the elements of the context under
the leader's control. The chief talent partner and chief talent
officer in a global firm experimented with different ways of
structuring talent management processes until they found the
options that worked best for their firm. They caused a lot of
discomfort, which is actually an incredibly valuable driver of
intentional change, and made mistakes, which are part of an
effective strategy design and implementation process. They led by
aiming change at the elements of the context within their control,
and it worked. Now, I'm going to tell you why it worked.
What it means to be a leader in any profession has changed and
continues to change because of changes in our world, such as
technology, the economy and culture. In particular the meaning of
expertise and authority have changed. Expertise, presently, has a
de facto meaning of someone with a skill in high demand
and low supply in the marketplace. Expertise allows one to price
one's services without sensitivity to the effects of the downward
pricing pressures of commoditization. It also supplements the power
of formal authority to lead others. Others listen and follow
because others assume that the expert knows something they do not
and, by virtue of that knowledge, is also trustworthy. The scope of
true expertise in the marketplace, based purely on the ability to
collect data, analyze it in a linear, logical way, use it in a rote
or rule-based manner is narrowing because it's quickly becoming
easier and cheaper to do the same by connecting to other people or
web-based platforms. Thus, it's simply not as valuable or powerful
as it was.
Leadership, in the sense of formal authority, also isn't the
power it used to be. The shift in leadership from formal authority
to contextual leadership is a consequence of the historical,
cultural shift in systemic power dynamics. This shift in power
dynamics is evident by decreased formality (use of first name) in
how people address one another regardless of age, hierarchical role
or professional status. Trust, based on any of these factors, has
diminished because of the growing gap between the empowered haves
and have-nots, the blurring of formal boundaries sent into motion
by the 1960s in the United States (according to Barbara Kellerman
in Hard Times), and the shrinking scope of the
"taking-care-of-others" attitude demonstrated by highly publicized
organization closings and massive job layoffs.
As a consequence of theses changes in the meaning of expert and
formal authority, to be a successful leader, such as the managing
partner, general counsel or CEO, lawyers must become much more
intentional and self-aware in leading themselves and others by
understanding and using the entire systemic context. Systemic
context means the organization in which the leader works and its
people, processes and structures, and the organization's
external context, which is everything outside of the organization.
Structures are how people are connected and organized or
coordinated within a system. Processes are how people execute tasks
within the system. Some structures are clearly evident and more
formalized, like office buildings, departments or divisions,
projects, retreats, and group trainings while others are informal
like the network of friendships. Some structures are more
permanent, while others last only for a short period. Some
processes are obvious like the array of talent cycle processes,
while others are equally important, but less obvious, like
culture.
World and organizational history affect the organization's
culture. Culture affects the way people in the organization think
and behave as strongly as any of the formal structures and
processes. A successful leader in any organization in today's legal
industry is aware of every force exerting influence on the
behaviors of the people in the leader's organization and adjusts
the contextual factors to achieve his or her intended goals. That's
how today's successful leaders lead, by aiming adjustments at the
unique contextual factors affecting the people in their
organization.