<b>Professional Development University:</b> Professional Development With an Agenda for 2006

When you read this, 2006 will be here. Year-end reviews, bonus decisions, partner offers, terminations and vacations are the buzz in many firms. This is also a time when businesses take stock, not in the traditional sense of counting what is on the shelf, but more importantly, what has the firm accomplished over the past 12 months. It is likely the firm does little more than look at the bottom line as the dispositive factor of success. Leadership can expand and enlighten their thinking if they ask: “What do we do that makes us successful and what are the indicators of success that we can quantify at the end of the year?” In a sense, it is a “performance review” of the firm and professional development.

Looking into the New Year: What should the legal profession, specifically those who lead their practices to success through professional development, think about?

• An End to Window Dressing: Effective professional development that sustains ethical conduct, civil discourse, client service and educated lawyers and staff requires a commitment in time and money. Creating firm “universities” that offer lunch-time seminars, lawyers with little experience, preparation or training as teachers, and few connections to performance management, are merely the repackaging of an old product that will likely achieve the same unsatisfactory results. Firms need to assess, reshape and recommit to a higher standard of professional development that includes:

a. New accountability and fee structures that integrate professional development;
b. Continuous needs assessments;
c. On going program evaluations that measure more than learner satisfaction; and
d. Research and development prong of professional development group that allows the firm to monitor global issues and educate lawyers so they are prepared before issues emerge or require specialized knowledge to serve a client's needs.

• Investment in Learning Non-Legal Topics: Inherently and by necessity, the creation of law by legislatures, courts and lawyers moves at snail's pace. However, the rest of the world in moving at mock speeds. Lawyers and their paralegals need to understand and gain a deeper understanding science, technology, economics and business to fully understand client needs and integrate law with these disciplines.
• Institutionalization of Professional Development: I was recently asked by the Professional Development Chair and partner of a 400-plus lawyer firm: “How do you “institutionalize” professional development within the context of a law firm's “culture.” My response: first, and foremost: leadership by example from the top down and across the organization. If new associates are required to create and execute professional development plans, so too should the most senior partners. While senior partners are more likely to balk at this “frivolous” activity, their engagement in the process sends a strong, positive message throughout the firm and will help them guide less experienced lawyers shape rewarding, balanced careers. Leadership's commitment, demonstrated by hiring highly qualified professionals such a as a Chief Learning Officers or Directors and giving them prominent role in the firm's management structure, put a vital link in place for the business to prosper.
• If Lawyers were Machines … Health Must be a Priority: If lawyers and staff were machines, we would unplug them, replace worn out parts, relubricate and recalibrate them based on a maintenance schedule. But the people in our firms are not machines, so we treat them differently and appropriately call upon them to take responsibility for their health. Professionals, and all staff for that matter, need support and a culture that encourages one to take vacation time, exercise, visit doctors and overtly examine whether they are achieving desired balance between work and personal life. Whether one speaks to a young associate or seasoned litigator, or an experienced firm administrator, they will candidly share stressors that have a direct impact on their ability to focus, relationships with family and friends, and their overall health. Mental and physical well-being is directly correlated to productivity, professionalism and retention, therefore “health” is yet another area that can not only enhance a firm's commitment to the growth of its lawyers, but will ultimately improve performance.
• Leadership Evolution: The same partner who asked how to institutionalize professional development, also wanted to know my view of firm cultures. While each firm is unique, they are similar to cultures throughout the world. Firms have primary and subcultures, degrees of transparency, communication practices that indicate how power and authority shared, and core firm values that appear for public consumption and those that are actually practiced. From a professional development perspective, it takes a keen eye and ear, as well as experience, to assess and understand the evolution of a firm's culture. Firm cultures, even the most static, are dynamic, thus leadership development is a necessity that cannot be ignored as part of firm's strategic plan.

If you are a sole practitioner, manage a small group of lawyers or have just been appointed as the managing partner of a large firm, use this list of questions to shape your strategic plan for professional development:

• What concrete steps are we taking to enhance the standing, substance and impact of professional development?
• How are we keeping pace with non-legal topics that are central to the effective practice of law?
• Is professional development a core practice of this firm? How do we know that it is?
• Have I paid enough attention to my mental and physical health, and to the health of the firm's employees?
• What are we doing to ensure that the firm leadership continues to evolve.

These questions are the beginning rather than end to a process that can build upon success in your firm and position it for greater success, especially if leadership defines success and takes stock at the end of the year.

When you read this, 2006 will be here. Year-end reviews, bonus decisions, partner offers, terminations and vacations are the buzz in many firms. This is also a time when businesses take stock, not in the traditional sense of counting what is on the shelf, but more importantly, what has the firm accomplished over the past 12 months. It is likely the firm does little more than look at the bottom line as the dispositive factor of success. Leadership can expand and enlighten their thinking if they ask: “What do we do that makes us successful and what are the indicators of success that we can quantify at the end of the year?” In a sense, it is a “performance review” of the firm and professional development.

Looking into the New Year: What should the legal profession, specifically those who lead their practices to success through professional development, think about?

• An End to Window Dressing: Effective professional development that sustains ethical conduct, civil discourse, client service and educated lawyers and staff requires a commitment in time and money. Creating firm “universities” that offer lunch-time seminars, lawyers with little experience, preparation or training as teachers, and few connections to performance management, are merely the repackaging of an old product that will likely achieve the same unsatisfactory results. Firms need to assess, reshape and recommit to a higher standard of professional development that includes:

a. New accountability and fee structures that integrate professional development;
b. Continuous needs assessments;
c. On going program evaluations that measure more than learner satisfaction; and
d. Research and development prong of professional development group that allows the firm to monitor global issues and educate lawyers so they are prepared before issues emerge or require specialized knowledge to serve a client's needs.

• Investment in Learning Non-Legal Topics: Inherently and by necessity, the creation of law by legislatures, courts and lawyers moves at snail's pace. However, the rest of the world in moving at mock speeds. Lawyers and their paralegals need to understand and gain a deeper understanding science, technology, economics and business to fully understand client needs and integrate law with these disciplines.
• Institutionalization of Professional Development: I was recently asked by the Professional Development Chair and partner of a 400-plus lawyer firm: “How do you “institutionalize” professional development within the context of a law firm's “culture.” My response: first, and foremost: leadership by example from the top down and across the organization. If new associates are required to create and execute professional development plans, so too should the most senior partners. While senior partners are more likely to balk at this “frivolous” activity, their engagement in the process sends a strong, positive message throughout the firm and will help them guide less experienced lawyers shape rewarding, balanced careers. Leadership's commitment, demonstrated by hiring highly qualified professionals such a as a Chief Learning Officers or Directors and giving them prominent role in the firm's management structure, put a vital link in place for the business to prosper.
• If Lawyers were Machines … Health Must be a Priority: If lawyers and staff were machines, we would unplug them, replace worn out parts, relubricate and recalibrate them based on a maintenance schedule. But the people in our firms are not machines, so we treat them differently and appropriately call upon them to take responsibility for their health. Professionals, and all staff for that matter, need support and a culture that encourages one to take vacation time, exercise, visit doctors and overtly examine whether they are achieving desired balance between work and personal life. Whether one speaks to a young associate or seasoned litigator, or an experienced firm administrator, they will candidly share stressors that have a direct impact on their ability to focus, relationships with family and friends, and their overall health. Mental and physical well-being is directly correlated to productivity, professionalism and retention, therefore “health” is yet another area that can not only enhance a firm's commitment to the growth of its lawyers, but will ultimately improve performance.
• Leadership Evolution: The same partner who asked how to institutionalize professional development, also wanted to know my view of firm cultures. While each firm is unique, they are similar to cultures throughout the world. Firms have primary and subcultures, degrees of transparency, communication practices that indicate how power and authority shared, and core firm values that appear for public consumption and those that are actually practiced. From a professional development perspective, it takes a keen eye and ear, as well as experience, to assess and understand the evolution of a firm's culture. Firm cultures, even the most static, are dynamic, thus leadership development is a necessity that cannot be ignored as part of firm's strategic plan.

If you are a sole practitioner, manage a small group of lawyers or have just been appointed as the managing partner of a large firm, use this list of questions to shape your strategic plan for professional development:

• What concrete steps are we taking to enhance the standing, substance and impact of professional development?
• How are we keeping pace with non-legal topics that are central to the effective practice of law?
• Is professional development a core practice of this firm? How do we know that it is?
• Have I paid enough attention to my mental and physical health, and to the health of the firm's employees?
• What are we doing to ensure that the firm leadership continues to evolve.

These questions are the beginning rather than end to a process that can build upon success in your firm and position it for greater success, especially if leadership defines success and takes stock at the end of the year.