Leadership: What makes a good leader?

Leadership

Leadership:

What makes a good leader?

While women have made up over half of practising solicitors since 2018, the profession continues to be led predominantly by men. The Women in Leadership in Law report from March 2019 found that the perception of unconscious bias was identified as the main barrier for career progression. One of the themes found was that women do not fit into the traditional image of a business leader, which can often hold them back. However, the perception of effective leadership is rather narrow, and does not always match up with the actual traits required to be an effective leader.

As a junior solicitor who is also in a position of responsibility, I feel well placed to offer a helpful insight into what qualities actually make a good leader. I know how I would like to be treated by those who are more senior to me, and I endeavour to exemplify these traits myself. So, without further ado, please see below my top traits of what makes a good leader.

Emotional intelligence

It is vital for leaders to have a good understanding of the people and the company they are leading. Leaders need to be able to identify people’s strengths, which allows everyone to work together in a way which benefits the team as a whole. Leaders also need to understand a firm’s culture in order to motivate people in a way which inspires them. Leaders should not be frightened of asking employees what they would value, as this provides an all-important insight into your team’s culture.

A team is likely to be filled with many different personalities. In order to lead a team on a long-term basis, leaders need to ensure that they do not outwardly take sides, and instead make all individuals feel at ease (unless the matter is particularly serious – see below). By being non-judgmental, leaders can ensure that they care for all the team, not just the most outspoken members.

The confidence to make hard decisions

Sometimes, a leader must face a difficult decision, and it is vital that they have the confidence to act. For example, if a partner in the team commits sexual harassment in the workplace, a leader should be willing to take appropriate action. This may result in negative consequences, such as the partner leaving and their associated workstream falling away, but is necessary to ensure that the team is properly protected.

As leaders are often in charge of strategic decisions, they need to be open-minded. For example, the teams which have flourished most during the pandemic are those with a leadership team which was willing to consider flexible working and embraced the benefits this new way of working offers.

Is legal knowledge necessary?

A good leader’s skillset does not necessarily need to have direct relevance to the goals of their team, although this is likely to be useful to understand how the team functions. However, leaders will need to have the confidence of those working below them, and it may be that being a leader in their field inspires those below to trust their decisions.

Does a leader need to be senior?

Many people have leadership skills irrespective of their seniority. As leadership skills are transferable, these may have been built up in a previous career or through other activities.

However, leadership skills are generally refined through experience, and while juniors may have the requisite attributes, they need the experience and opportunity to demonstrate such skills – which usually doesn’t come until you are senior. One way to help train junior staff is to provide them with roles of responsibility.

An important element of being a leader is leading by example. For example, the culture of a firm is often led by those at the top. If a CEO demonstrates an acceptance of discussing mental health, perhaps by discussing the difficulties they themselves have faced, it will give their employees confidence that they can speak up about their own mental health struggles. While a leader does not need to be senior, they should have the respect and confidence of those who are being led so that they can properly lead by example.

Integrity

Many people can be effective leaders, but to be a good leader, you need integrity. Leaders often chart the course of an organisation, and by acting with integrity, leaders inspire others to follow in their footsteps. Leaders who act with honesty and loyalty encourage their employees and often have repeat customers.

How to support junior lawyers

Junior lawyers want a leader they can learn from, who supports them and will actively encourage and trust them to try new things. Once a junior lawyer has proven themselves to be capable, micro-managing them is likely to be frustrating and may lead to a decrease in motivation and productivity.

Juniors want to feel supported in a non-judgmental way to allow them the space and opportunity to become the best they can be in the workplace. A junior lawyer should know that they have the support of their leader, and that they can trust them and turn to them should something go wrong. It is the role of a good leader to provide them with that environment.

Do the skills required remotely differ from those in the office?

As all of the above skills listed are soft skills, a leader possessing these skills should be able to fit into any situation. A good leader should therefore be able to lead regardless of whether they are working remotely or in the office. However, leaders should consider if any of these skills are hampered by working remotely, such as communicating with your team, and should actively work to counteract that. For example, if a leader normally speaks to everyone in a team to ascertain their workload, but is unable to do that online, they should make sure that they implement a different method for ascertaining how busy everyone is. ■

Suzanna Eames

Vice-Chair of the Junior Lawyers Division and a Family Associate at Farrer & Co.

Suzanna Eames