Congratulations! You’ve received the call to become a leader and help your firm grow.

Whether you asked for the call, established yourself as a candidate, someone recommended you, or you simply were out of the room and drew the short straw, you can now have a significant impact on your firm.

Opportunities to demonstrate leadership are everywhere, but it matters less about why you received the call and more about what you do in leading – and how.

Why is Growth an Imperative?

Imperative comes from the Latin word imperare, which means “to command.” Its original use was a verb form expressing a command and implies when you must do something and cannot put it off.

Growth is an imperative for many reasons, not just a means to an economic end. They include getting ahead of competitors, creating new opportunities by disrupting the marketplace, mapping out and executing a succession strategy, and increasing your total number of engagements.

When you identify the imperative to grow, you’ll discover new opportunities for rising team members, boost energy and enthusiasm throughout the firm, increase profitability, enhance focus, and give those outside your organization an outward sign of vitality.

What Makes a Good Leader?

Leadership can sometimes come with a dilemma, as demonstrating leadership doesn’t come easy to everyone. You may have to give up something(s), and most professionals immediately think there is a new, unthinkable time commitment required. Remember, virtually all challenges are surmountable, which is why being a leader can be incredibly rewarding.

Leadership requires relationships – with their team and themselves. They understand why and how they affect other people and why other people affect them the way they do. They acknowledge and recognize their strengths and weaknesses to develop a positive attitude about themselves, causing others to have more confidence in them. They adopt behavioral strategies that accommodate other people by studying situations and people in relation to themselves.

To accomplish this, leaders must know how to deal with diverse workstyles, can build teams and generate consensus among myriad stakeholders, possess critical thinking and decision-making abilities, facilitate change and demonstrate core values – those of the firm and their own.

Professionals answering the call for leadership also need to make sure they connect the dots within the firm to create a cohesive plan. That means making sure your firm’s strategy, practice areas, resources, communications, and individual roles and responsibilities – including your own – are all aligned to support the overall goal.

What is Your Strategy?

While you may know the firm’s overall growth strategy on paper, leaders need to take a deeper dive to comprehend the mission from a high level down to the nuts and bolts. That includes understanding the firm’s current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to revenue, staffing, client service – anything that supports the firm’s day-to-day operations. A leader also must know where the firm and its core leadership want to go, what it will take to get there, and how to measure progress and success in realizing the goal.

Use this strategy to your advantage. Collaborate with those who you are leading by talking with your peers to understand their challenges and solutions. Communicate with your team to learn their desires, fears, strengths, weaknesses, interests, and motivation. This strategic thinking and planning will complement your efforts to understand the firm’s overall goal – and how to support and build the plan to get there.

Putting it All Together

Now that you understand why growth is an imperative, what traits make up a good growth leader, and the strategies necessary to move your team and your firm forward, it’s time to dig in and execute. You’ll need five critical elements to succeed:

  • Set appropriate goals. Any goals you set need to be aligned with the firm’s overall strategy. However, remember everyone at your firm, from you to the partner group to individual team members, plays a role in growth. Make sure to focus on each person’s strengths and how they can contribute to supporting the starting the strategy and achieving the goal. That includes creating personalized, specific and measurable actions, providing achievable, realistic deadlines, and the measurement tools and resources necessary for everyone to succeed individually – and as a firm!
  • Be accountable. I’ll never understate the importance of accountability so your firm can gain the advantage to drive higher performance. Holding yourself responsible for your actions builds trust among the team, eliminates wasted efforts on things that won’t be measured or don’t support the strategy, inspires confidence, and motivates everyone to grow. If you show a strong personal commitment to accountability, your team will follow suit. As Thomas Paine said, “Anyone holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.”
  • Find strategic partners. Whether this is fellow team members in your firm or professional colleagues outside your organization, having a sounding board of partners and a perspective other than your own to constantly look at the big picture will help you grow as a leader and as a firm. Make sure you give them the freedom to be honest with you.
  • Manage expectations. Surprise! Not everyone will share your enthusiasm. Like many other situations, you will need to determine the best accountability leader for your team members. The clearer your firm strategy is, the more success you and your team will see. On the flip side, the more ambiguous, the more of a challenge achieving the goal will become.
  • Provide motivation. Celebrate successes along the way, no matter how big or small. Growth is a marathon, not a sprint. Help team members, make yourself accessible to guide them past roadblocks and recognize milestones when they reach them. Remember, lead with optimism!

It is up to you to embrace the call and be a leader. You’ve got this. Now make it an imperative and do it!