Ineffective Management Styles

By Debra Bruce

“A competent leader can get efficient service from poor troops, while on the contrary an incapable leader can demoralize the best of troops.”
~ General John J. Pershing

Leadership has been defined as “influencing, motivating, and inspiring others through direct and indirect means to accomplish organizational objectives.” More simply stated, a leader’s responsibility is to get the job done well

while keeping the group together. When the leader lacks adequate leadership skills, it undermines the successful management of a law practice.

Undoubtedly, we have each experienced a number of ineffective leaders in our life. Probably with some effort, we also can remember someone who led us very effectively. Why are there so many more ineffective leaders than effective ones? Surely they did not purposely choose to be ineffective. Did they know they were being ineffective leaders? How do you know whether you are being an effective leader? Answer: by the results you get.

So if you are not 100% pleased with the results you are getting from your staff, from your partners, in your family, from organizations you belong to -- perhaps it is time to assess your leadership competencies. Don’t let yourself off the hook just because you are not the managing partner or president of your organization. Leadership emerges from all levels of a group or organization, not just from the top.

Traits and Behaviors of Effective Leaders

What traits and skills do you need to have to be an effective leader? Lists of leadership competencies vary, and that may be due to the situational nature of leadership. A competent leader in a psychotherapy practice may differ somewhat from one in a software development company or a law firm. Here are some links to lists of leadership competencies developed by certain organizations:

U. S. Coast Guard:
http://www.uscg.mil/leadership/leadci/encl1.htm

Boy Scouts of America:
http://www.whitestag.org/aims/leadership_principles.html

Canadian government:
http://www.hrma-agrh.gc.ca/leadership/klc-ccl/model_e.asp

Donald Clark:
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/case/chart1.html

Despite the differences in industries and organizations, certain core competencies are necessary for effective leadership in any arena. Here are a few:

1. Communication: expressing facts and ideas succinctly and logically; listening actively and supportively; clarifying and verifying understanding; providing feedback
2. Vision: establishing objectives and the benefits to be derived from them; seeing possibilities; pointing the way
3. Strategic thinking: assessing options and the long-term probable outcomes of decisions and behaviors; planning
4. Development: empowering others by modeling, mentoring and delegating; building relationships; learning from mistakes
5. Taking charge: initiating action; making difficult decisions; setting direction; holding others accountable

For a review of the common elements in the leadership competencies identified by 62 different global companies, see Cambria Consulting’s article at
http://www.cambriaconsulting.com/new/files/LeadershipComps.pdf .

Assessing Your Leadership Strengths

If you want to assess your leadership competencies, there are some self-assessments that you can order online. Here are a few links:

Campbell Leadership Descriptor
http://www.ccl.org/leadership/assessments/CLDOverview.aspx?pageId=40

KnowlEDGE for Leaders Assessment
http://www.edgetrainingsystems.com/Store/tabid/91/CatalogItemID/30/CatalogID/1/psnavcmd/CatalogItemDetails/Default.aspx

Hay Group Leadership Competency Inventory
http://www.hayresourcesdirect.haygroup.com/Competency/Assessments_Surveys/Leadership_Competency_Inventory/Overview.asp

Central Michigan University Leadership Competency Assessment http://www.chsbs.cmich.edu/leader_model/assess.htm

Pfeiffer – Leadership Practices Inventory, Self Instrument
http://www.pfeiffer.com/WileyCDA/PfeifferTitle/productCd-0787967955.html


Strengths That Become Weaknesses

If you determine that you have a number of leadership strengths, can you be certain that you are using them effectively? Leaders may tend to overuse their strengths until they become weaknesses. In large law firms we often see that the leaders are good at getting a job done right and as soon as possible, but perhaps at the sacrifice of keeping the people involved and motivated. Hence, many large firms today are experiencing costly attrition and crippling gaps in experienced talent at the 4 to7 year levels. In other professions, such as psychotherapy, many of the leaders may be sensitive to individuals and may take time to make sure that everyone feels involved and committed, but struggle to get the job completed on time or as intended.

Getting 360° Feedback

We all have blind spots when it comes to assessing ourselves. To get a more realistic view of the impact of our leadership style, or to see where our style needs to be fine tuned, we need to ask those people around us for feedback. Unfortunately, many people are not comfortable giving direct and candid responses to such inquiries, especially if they believe that we have the ability to negatively impact their careers. To overcome that impediment, we can use a confidential multi-rater feedback survey. It is called a 360 survey because respondents can come from positions 360 degrees around us, including bosses, co-workers, direct reports, clients and even colleagues outside the organization and family members. Respondents confidentially and sometimes anonymously rate the subject leader on specified leadership behaviors, and in some surveys they may provide written comments as well. Facilitators may also be used to confidentially interview respondents and to compile all the responses in such a way as to shield the identity of the respondents.

Here are some links for information about a few 360 instruments:
Kaplan Devries Inc. – Leadership Versatility Index
http://216.92.141.204/index.php/whatwedo/3/C26/21/

Pfeiffer – Leadership Practices Inventory
http://www.pfeiffer.com/WileyCDA/PfeifferTitle/productCd-0787967270.html

Profiles International – Checkpoint 360
http://www.compassassociates.net/files/checkpoint.htm

Center for Creative Leadership – Executive Dimensions
http://www.ccl.org/leadership/assessments/executiveOverview.aspx?pageId=54

The Kaplan Devries instrument referenced above is specifically designed to identify when our overuse of a strength becomes a weakness.

To Get Better, Get Feedback

Whether you engage a coach or consultant to facilitate a full-blown 360 review of all of your managing partners and practice group leaders, or just sit down to have a candid talk with your subordinates, get some feedback. We can’t even drive a car without feedback from the instruments on our dashboard and the stripes on the road. Certainly we need feedback to drive something as complex as a law firm!


Jeffrey D. Horey (Caliber Associates) and Jon J. Fallesen (Army Research Institute), Leadership Competencies: Are we all saying the same thing?

Debra Bruce (www.Lawyer-Coach.com) practiced law for 18 years, before becoming a professionally trained Executive Coach for lawyers. She is Vice Chair of the Law Practice Management Committee of the State Bar of Texas, and the co-founder of Houston Coaching Network, the Houston Chapter of the International Coach Federation