E-Tips: Multi-Generational Solutions Archives

In his book, The Hero's Farewell, former Dean of the Yale School of Management, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, classifies top executives into four categories of styles and describes their effect on their firms as they exit or relinquish leadership. The four styles are:

Research from the summer of 2004 by Karen MacKay, partner in Edge International resident in Australia, surveying associates and partners in the Multilaw global network of independent law firms confirms the divergent views between Baby Boomer partners (74% of partner respondents) and Generation X associates (70% of associate respondents). Results may have been even more revealing if the generation cohorts were divided in half, as the early Boomers differ, sometimes significantly from the later phase Boomers, as do the earlier and later phase Gen Xers from each other.

• Take some time (regardless of billing pressures) to get out of the office and make new contacts Keep in touch with your classmates and other contacts. Otherwise, when you are coming up for partner or principal and are expected to show potential for generating business, you won’t know anyone!

In discussing how to be more persuasive and influential, we can think about how to deal with peers, subordinates, and people outside your organization as well as people you report to or firm management more generally. Here we focus on influencing your "boss" or “manager,” whoever in the organization that is, at whatever level.

Inter-generational issues have always been a concern but never before as challenging in the workplace as now. How many of these are disturbing your sleep?

As many of you know from the programs and coaching I do on “Influence,” I am always looking for examples, success stories and ways I can help people learn to be more influential in their own chosen arenas. People at all levels have some power to influence factors in their work lives based on their personal strengths, their ability to interact with others, and the knowledge that they hold or share. Those in leadership positions are poised to exert more influence than followers, but they have to be willing to take a stand, give consistent support, and be ever vigilant to maintain trust among their colleagues and “followers.” Unless the leader is truly a dictator, direct influence is limited.

In Part I, I discussed how professionals are self-motivated based on job control, continuous learning and growth, teamwork, and psychic rewards from feedback and achievement for clients.

Here I will cover specific strategies effective in other fields that, like the legal profession, require intense work, as well as examples of what law firms can and are doing to increase satisfaction and retention.

The legal profession will be spending a good deal of time this year sorting out, and digging out from the effects of the latest dramatic, associate salary increases. This is particularly true of large firms that have a ripple effect on other firms and organizations.