Equity promotion regret hurts. Uncover the hidden risks before deciding.
Wow. Summer holidays + running a business + childcare. How do you all do it?! I was always the one that was still in the office over school holidays.
But this was my first summer navigating the juggle; for some of my friends and colleagues it was their last. The common thread seems to be that whether you're one year in or 12 years through... it just doesn't work! If you've found the balance, do let me know your secret! 🙏🏻
Despite the juggle, this summer I've been speaking with a number of law firms about a very different challenge:
Who are our next Equity Partners – and are they actually ready to lead the business?
You probably already know who your strongest salaried partners are technically and commercially.
But what happens when they're under pressure?
• Do they make decisions with confidence, or keep checking?
• Do they have ‘that’ difficult conversation effectively – or not at all, hoping the problem resolves itself?
• Do they delegate and develop their people, or become so consumed by their own workload and quality standards that they take everything back and do it themselves?
• And when someone in their team isn't performing, can they deal with it – or does it eventually land on the People Team's desk?
As we know, those behaviours don't become less important when someone moves into Equity. They become more important.
If one or two names have already come into your head, hit reply and tell me what's concerning you about them (anonymously, of course!). I'll give you my initial thoughts on where I'd focus their development.
One firm I'm working with has six strong salaried partners who could potentially be invited into Equity early next year.
They're not waiting until the promotion decision has been made to start developing them.
We're working together now, giving those individuals time to:
• understand how others perceive and experience them – are they trusted? Do they bring people with them?; make good judgement calls?; use an appropriate tone of voice?;
• understand that leadership at this level isn't about proving what they can do anymore – it's about their team, the business and the wider firm;
• recognise where their own habits may be getting in the way and practise doing things differently; and, crucially,
• demonstrate that they can learn, adapt and lead differently before the firm decides whether they're ready for Equity.
And investing in them now isn't a promise of Equity. It's giving both the individual and the firm the opportunity to find out whether they're ready for it.
If you're discussing your 2027 Equity candidates internally, there's one question I'd add to the conversation:
“What would we need to see happening around this person over the next six months to feel confident bringing them into Equity?”
If that question creates more discussion than you expected, hit reply. That's exactly the sort of gap we can work on while there's still time to do something about it.
Because April might sound a long way off.
But it isn't if you need enough time to see whether someone's behaviour actually changes.
And that's the bit I think matters in succession planning.
Don't just ask whether someone is ready for Equity today. Give yourself enough time to find out whether they can become ready.