More than anything else, law firms are focused on growing. However, in my experience many law firms have not grown successfully because they have ignored the career aspirations of their partners or the partners they have added. Growth which ignores that important element is “growth for growth sake,� a risky and expensive proposition.

If you surveyed your partners, you would find some degree of diversity in what they are looking for in their career. The greater the diversity in those aspirations the more difficult it is to build an enduring firm because of the challenge of finding a common vision and common values.

Some firms really understand their partners’ career aspirations and take time to understand the aspirations of the lawyers they are considering adding. They look for alignment, the first step necessary for successful growth. Those firms not only know how they want to grow and where they want to grow, but more importantly they know why they want to grow. I saw this approach first hand when a friend of mine with a growing international practice left his one office Chicago firm to join an international firm and couldn’t be happier. In that case, the international firm was looking to add lawyers who had growing international practices, so its interests were aligned with the aspirations of my friend.

Unfortunately, my friend’s example is the exception rather than the rule. In working with lawyers and firms around the country I have witnessed some unfortunate examples of unhealthy growth.

• A productive partner who thrived on being her own person was recruited by a large Houston firm that employed a strong set of standards including standards for high performance. She left the firm before the end of her first year because she couldn’t stand feeling like she was being regulated.

• A personable lawyer in Atlanta took his successful practice to a small Atlanta firm that met his needs for a collegial work environment and a deep sense of “partnership�. Within six months the firm merged with a huge out of state firm. He felt like an employee of a corporation and left.

The list goes on and on but you get the point. Where growth is the product of aligned aspirations you have a shot at a growth that can last. Absent this alignment failure is almost certain.

Does this strike you as a practical way to approach growth, or “pie-in-the-sky� thinking? I would like to hear your thoughts on the keys to successful growth.

For starters, let’s get this question out of the way: Why should either of us invest time in another blog?

None of us need more reading material. If you’re like me, you already have scores of pages that go unread daily. That said, let me suggest a dialogue that will be worthy of our time, and will stimulate conversations that are central to two critical pursuits: the growth law firms seek, and the career aspirations every lawyer has.

My premise: The #1 issue on the minds of law firm leaders is successful growth. Yet, many firms continue to grow largely by happenstance. During the last two decades our professional landscape has become littered with firms who have failed in an attempt to realize sustainable growth.

The irony is that there is a relatively simple equation that, if followed, provides answers to every question you may have about how to achieve successful growth.

So that’s what we’re here for. I’ve spent the last 25 years working on the background for our discussion . . . working in law firm leadership, writing on a number of facets of the discussion, and consulting with some of the most interesting lawyers and firms in the world. I have a passion for helping firms achieve healthy growth. But mine is only one perspective, and I have no interest in just sitting down and writing. I have enormous interest in being part of a discussion that can have an impact on the legal profession. So, the success of this dialogue depends on your participation.

Over the next few weeks we’ll look at the issue of growth, offer a definition of healthy, sustainable growth, and explore the equation for achieving the personal and firm experience you’re looking for.

We’ll begin to address the way the profession views growth in my next posting. In the meantime, if you know someone you believe would enjoy being a part of the dialogue, please forward this email to them. (If you’ve received this content thanks to a friend, please shoot me an email so I can add you to our regular distribution.)
Stay tuned.
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