Promote the team concept
One of the best ways to ensure success at your company is to
remember that both you and your employees have lives outside
the workplace.
“It’s crucial,” Van Cleve says. “If all of your life is coming in and
figuring out how many billable hours you have, that’s not very satisfying over the long term. In any successful organization, you
need a strong mix of what you do professionally and being able to
relate to people on a very personal basis.”
When your company does something great, make sure you allow
time to celebrate the victory. It could be through a formal gathering or just a simple e-mail blast to all your employees.
This environment where work is the most important part of what
you do but not the only thing you do can be reinforced again by
getting your organization involved in the community.
In supporting these types of activities, you are actually fortifying
the foundation of your team.
“Any organization, once you get beyond 25 people or maybe 50
people, you can’t know everybody very well,” Van Cleve says.
“What happens is in those larger organizations, smaller interpersonal relationships are developing. As a young associate coming in
here, maybe you are coming in with 18 other lawyers who are
starting that year. That’s one group for you.”
When you get to know these people and bond with these people,
you feel better about yourself and the organization. And when you
feel better about those things, your chances of doing well at the
company are a lot better.
The firm’s mentoring program is one of the best examples of this
idea.
“All of our associates have the opportunity to have a formal mentor and to see that mentor on a regular basis,” Van Cleve says. “The
mentors are encouraged to meet with them and share intergenerational perspectives. As organizations get bigger, they need to do
that.”
Van Cleve says Bryan Cave has succeeded because of its strong
focus on relationships throughout every aspect of the firm’s operation.
“Initially, you’ll have a contact, and you’ll have a relationship,”
Van Cleve says. “We have found that by making sure they know
what else we can offer and getting more lawyers involved at every
level with that client, we build relationships throughout that organization. We have found it works both for us and the client exceptionally well.”
HOW TO REACH: Bryan Cave LLP, (314) 259-2000 or www.bryancave.com
