If I were to walk into your firm and ask your partners to share with me the firm’s strategy for growth, culture, performance, or succession, how consistent would the answers be? My experience informs me that where the answers are consistent there is a remarkable correlation with success at multiple levels. The converse is true, where the answers are inconsistent, performance generally lags. Quite simply, partner/owner alignment on key goals is essential for success.
In some mild cases, there are a few well-intentioned and hard-working partners who are just out of the loop. In more extreme cases, certain partners are not bought in, are not being held accountable, and are negatively impacting performance. For managing partners, this can be a difficult roadblock to overcome.
In my recent work with a firm, the leadership was aligned on strategy, and it was clear they had a well-thought-out plan. There was another group of partners who trusted leadership, who were content in letting them drive the strategy but didn’t feel any need to either embrace or get in the way of what needed to be done. And then there was a smaller group who just didn’t like the direction and were just trying to hold on to “doing it their way.” This is not untypical. The question for leadership was one of how to create alignment and drive the entire group to a key decision point to move forward. As a teenager, I would visit my orthodontist regularly and in the office was a poster that read “not to decide is to decide.” In other words, doing nothing is a decision. That option usually had bad outcomes. In the case of this firm, they decided on a process that has led to alignment.
When we are clear on where we are going and what our strategy is to get there, we can then set goals for our partner group that align with the given strategy and also provide the tools for them to be successful in that strategy. Taking this a step deeper, it’s important to orient a partner’s individual goals to the firm’s goals. If individual and firm goals aren’t aligned, partners could be going all-in elsewhere and therefore not contributing to the overall goal.
So, what does this process look like?
When I work with a firm, I’m there to assist them in reaching clarity on their goals in key areas of focus: strategy, culture, performance, succession, business planning, growth, and people, to name a few. Through a collaborative discussion we can define goals for each of these focus areas. My alignment process is focused on getting the team to arrive at alignment together versus having the “expert” make the decisions. This includes asking probing questions about strategy, the highest and best role for each individual, the challenges they face, the opportunities available, and more.
Throughout the process, I am there to help draw the team’s focus back to the main priorities, current and historical trends, and to offer a third-party outside perspective. By providing best practices and trends and letting the group come to a consensus, we can get to the solutions that are right for a specific firm.
Once they’ve reached their conclusions, accountability is necessary to achieve any results. Nothing changes if nothing changes, and accountability is the ticket to implementing change.
I cannot overstate the critical concept of alignment. The time and energy spent on alignment is much more efficient than the time to manage misalignment. If you’re going to spend time, why not spend it on positive and engaging leadership discussions? One final perspective: These can be hard conversations. Loyal, hard-working, and talented individuals can be our biggest obstacles, not because they are wanting to disrupt, but because they may not want to change. Be prepared to do the hard work; I know the results will be worth it. If I can be part of an alignment conversation, I welcome the opportunity.
