Find and monitor the right fit
You need to realize that not everyone should be told the same message the same way.
“Where people stand is often a function of where they sit, and you need to understand that,” he says. “That secretaries or paralegals or equity members may view life a little differently. What I’ve tried to do is reach out and infect all of those people with the positive culture of the firm and get them moving in the direction that we want them to get moving. You cannot have a homogeneous message going across the lines. It takes a lot of time and a lot of effort to reach out to the various constituencies within the organization.”
Because Ryan believes a company’s culture comes from the top, it’s imperative for him to have the right people in charge below him delivering those messages. He needs people in leadership roles who share his vision and his passion and can distribute it down through the ranks.
“We manage through a multipoint system where we have heads of divisions, heads of practice groups and heads of offices,” he says.
When assigning someone to a leadership roll, you may be tempted to look for people who have excelled at their current position in the company. Keep in mind that just because someone excels at one part of your business, doesn’t mean he or she will thrive at a different part.
“Often, you don’t know someone’s strengths or weakness until you put them in there,” he says.
That’s why Ryan has to monitor his decisions and keep in touch with the people being led.
“I continue to spend a tremendous amount of time talking with the people within the offices — staff and lawyers within the practice groups, within the divisions — understanding if the leadership there is effective. If it isn’t, we either fix it or make a change.”
In Ryan’s case, he may have taken someone who was a great trial lawyer and then puts that person in a leadership position, only to find it wasn’t working. While a change needs to be made, you don’t want to write off the person completely.
“We certainly don’t want to cut off that resource if they’re a good lawyer,” he says. “What we try to do then is if they are not real good at interacting with management or (managing people), what we try to do is diminish that portion of it.”
One thing Ryan looks for to find out who is being an effective group leader is by looking at the head count of a practice group, and then listening to what people are saying. If people are leaving that group, it could mean the leader is not doing well or is not exemplifying the culture the way he or she should be.
“Sometimes the secretaries know a whole lot more of what’s going on and are more willing to talk to you about it than some of the lawyers,” he says. “They’ll tell you the people are often acting erratic, they’re heavy-handed, they’re not being very good or very kind. It clues you in on where there is a problem.”
While it may be hard to pull someone out of a position that you thought he or she was great for, it’s something you have to do as soon as you have the information you need.
“Make the change,” Ryan says. “Do not hesitate. Make a decision on the best data possible, have that decision monitored by the best people possible, and then modify the decision accordingly. I am a firm believer that you don’t make a decision and walk away from it particularly when your capital is human because people evolve. They get stretched and tested, and people have different strengths and weaknesses. You constantly have to monitor it.”
