Delegation: A Case Study
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A client who was a young partner in a prestigious law firm benefitted from an excellent reputation that he had quickly built in his practice area thanks to his sense of client service and his attention to the quality of his work. Because he was constantly sought-after by new clients, he expanded his team in order to lighten his workload.
However, even though his team expanded, his workload simply continued to increase. Despite his utmost confidence in his associates, he continued to review meticulously each piece of work they completed. In fact, he had a tendency to modify their work product so extensively that, in many cases, he was basically entirely re-doing the work himself. We began working together so that he could address this situation.
Our first step in working together was to help the client to identify the origins of the issue he was facing.
Despite the fact that he had transitioned from associate to partner many years prior, his understanding of his value-added had barely changed since the earliest days of his career. His conception of a lawyer’s value was still firmly anchored in the image of his work as an associate: this was, after all, what helped him to stand out from his peers at an early stage and how he managed to rise quickly through the ranks to become partner. For that reason, now, many years later, when he delegated work to his subordinates, in the back of his mind he felt that he was shirking his responsibilities.
In other words, he had the impression that he was not serving much of a purpose if he did not implicate himself in his files in the only way that gave him the impression he was adding value — essentially doing the work of a young associate.
At the same time, he was well-aware of the fact that carrying on in the current manner was unsustainable and would eventually lead to burn-out.
It was therefore necessary for my client to reassess his value-added as a partner. This work allowed him to better internalise that, in his current role, his true value was in:
his ability to appreciate his clients’ needs;
his transversal vision of his clients’ activities, well beyond what was at play in each individual file; and
the strategic perspective he was able to offer thanks to his extensive experience.
His team was more than capable of doing the technical work — and at a much lower billable rate for his clients.
Changing habits that have been so deeply ingrained for so long is not easy or straightforward, but thanks to his dedication to coaching and hard work between sessions, my client was able to develop a relationship to his work that was better adapted to his role as a partner. His clients continued to place their confidence in him, and his associates were able to grow and develop thanks to the increasing responsibilities that accompanied their manager’s new approach to delegation.
My client was able to work with less stress thanks to a workload that was more manageable.
How could coaching help you to better adapt to the advances that you have made throughout your career? Contact Jon here to discuss. Take a look here if you would like to know about his experience and credentials.