Elowitt and Wasserman on Lawyers as Managers

• Author: Administrator
• Date: September 28, 2017

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LAWYERS AS MANAGERS: HOW TO BE A CHAMPION FOR YOUR FIRM AND EMPLOYEES

Andrew N Elowitt and Marcia Watson Wasserman

© 2017 American Bar Association. All rights reserved. Slaw readers can receive a 10% discount on purchase of this book. Use the discount code LAMS17 at checkout; this offer is valid until December 22nd, 2017.

Excerpt: PART III, Chapter 17, pgs. 219, 269-277

The contents of this excerpt may be also be downloaded in PDF format. (.8 MB)

Part III: Managing Specific Individuals and Situations

The chapters in this part of the book offer practical advice on how champion managers use the skills and mindset described previously to deal with many of the challenges, situations, and individuals commonly found in today’s law firms. Champion managers know the different skills and approaches they need for getting the best out of their underperforming, superstar, and average employees.

For example, they look past facile generalizations about Millennials, treat them as individuals who may or may not be different from older generations, and recognize that there are different keys to motivating them. Champion managers know how to supervise an increasingly diverse workforce that now includes contract attorneys, temps, interns, and employees that may be working on a flextime, part-time, virtual, or telecommuting basis. They also understand that it’s good business and ethical to manage for diversity and inclusion, to prevent harassment and bullying, to protect privacy and confidentiality, and to promote individual and firm-wide wellness.

Chapter 17: 17 Managing B Players

Many managers overlook the B players in their firm—champion managers don’t. They recognize that these solid, good-enough employees make a substantial contribution to a firm’s stability and are often an untapped resource for future growth and profitability (DeLong & Vijayaraghavan, 2003). Champion managers know that characterizing an employee as a B performer doesn’t mean they believe he or she has reached their full potential with no room for further growth and improvement. They make managing and developing their B players as high a priority as managing their superstars and underperformers, and they know that when B players are ignored they may begin to see themselves as unimportant, underappreciated, or low performing. As a result, their morale, engagement, and productivity may suffer.

It’s not too difficult to understand why so many managers spend too little time focusing on their B players. By definition, B players are already doing well enough, so their development is not seen as a high priority. They don’t present the same critical risks and problems that underperformers do, so their managers may not feel much of a sense of urgency in managing them. And they don’t need the attention and appreciation that some superstars demand, so their managers may feel it’s acceptable to leave them be. Some managers may also wrongly assume that their B players simply lack the talent or potential to ever become A players, so investing more time in developing them will yield limited and infrequent returns.

Managers (especially high achieving ones) may simply find it more enjoyable and gratifying to work with their superstar employees and peers. Their conversations and collaborations may lead to impressive results, thus bringing immediate recognition and credit to both. Developing B players, on the other hand, can be more time consuming, and the results may not be quite as spectacular as those achieved by superstars, but over the long run improvements in the performance of B players can be equally, if not more, important to a firm.

Who Are the B Players in a Law Firm?

B players exist in all sorts of organizations, and the lack of management and development attention they typically receive is nothing unique to the legal profession. Although they are estimated to make up about 60 percent of most organizations, they seldom receive the attention that the top- and bottom-performing 20 percent of their organizations do.

B performers are solid workers and consistent contributors; they exist at all levels of a law firm. They perform well when provided with guidance, follow up, and feedback. They may not be self-starters, or have a strategic perspective, or understand how their work contributes to their firm’s overall objectives and operations, but they get things done—well and on time and without a lot of drama. Their ambitions and expectations are often more modest than those of A players, and they may be satisfied with lower compensation in exchange for less stress and a more enjoyable work-life balance. Attorneys are, of course, not the only B players in a firm that deserve attention and development. Champion managers appreciate their B-performing staff members and offer them ways to further develop their skills and talents.

Managing B Players

Champion managers know that, in most respects, managing their B players is easier than managing underperformers and superstars. Many of their best management and development practices for those groups work equally well with their B performers. For example:

Champion managers provide their B performers with frequent feedback that is candid, constructive, and future oriented. This helps them to develop to their full potential.

Champion managers offer their B players authentic, personal, and specific praise rather than generic and insincere expressions. Secure B players usually need less frequent and fulsome appreciation than some of their insecure A player...