You’ve heard it from me, and you’ve heard it from others—the leadership style known as “command-and-control” is rampant in law firms. Unfortunately, it can also be fatal to a law firm’s culture. If you’re not familiar with the actual name of this leadership style, you’re surely familiar with the style itself. It’s where a leader makes decisions without input from others, gives orders and maintains absolute authority over his or her “team”—which is certainly a loose description of such a group in these situations.
On Dec. 6, I wrote an article titled, “Law Firms’ Command-and-Control Management Style Isn’t Working—What Now?” In that piece, we explored the behaviors of leaders who use this style, explained how those behaviors erode trust and presented new opportunities for law firms to gain this trust. In this article, let’s assess if you or your firm are enabling this leadership style, explore why it is no longer effective and provide alternative management solutions.
