Lawyer Monthly - Women In Law Special Edition

LAWYER MONTHLY WOMEN IN LAW EDITION 98 Although Zappos has lost some of its luster over the past couple of years, I still think Hsieh’s book is the single best resource to get your juices flowing on building an award winning culture. The first part of the book focuses on the interesting rise of Zappos as a business, however, the real meat of the content I return to is in the second half describing the unique culture at the company. This content helped fuel various initiatives implemented I read this book at the time I began leading our office. Pink changed my thinking on the old “carrots and sticks” approach to motivating a team towards a goal (or desired behavior). Us- ing decades of research, Pink outlines re-defines the proven elements of true motivation in the business world. He describes that in today’s environment, the secret to high performance and satisfaction is (i) autonomy—the desire to direct our own lives; (ii) 9 Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh 7 Drive: The Surprising Truths About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink in groups I have been involved in to build and maintain a great work-place culture. One great idea Hsieh implemented was a Zappos Culture Book built around the unique culture at his company. This included direct feedback from employees and customers. I took this idea and created my own office culture book celebrating our successful culture. Hsieh states that “if we get the culture right, most of the other stuff--like delivering great customer service, or building mastery—the urge to get bet- ter and better at something that matters; and (iii) purpose—the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves. He succinctly makes the case that we have to make sure that we get individu- al’s compensation correct, but it is these additional elements that will drive truly exceptional per- formance. Pink states that “the best use of money as a motivator is to pay people enough to take a long-term enduring brand and business--will happen naturally.” I believe this and also believe that a business or team does not sacrifice revenue or profit while investing in an award winning culture. Another resource with some instructive ideas on building a healthy corporate culture is “Onward” by former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz (even though they have experienced issues in the past). the issue of money off the table; pay people enough so they are not thinking about money and they’re thinking about the work.” When you remove the compen- sation issue, Pink says that there are three factors that lead to bet- ter performance and increased personal satisfaction--autonomy, mastery, and purpose. I have seen how understanding and implementing these principles helps pay significant dividends to a group or organisation. Several years ago, I heard an former executive from one of the major international accounting firms talk about client service and trusted client relationships. It was eye-opening to hear the signature efforts that accounting firms were taking to serve their clients and it convinced me that, on the whole, accounting firms were years ahead of law firms in implementing plans to become trusted advisers to clients. 8 All For One: 10 Strategies for Building Trusted Client Pa rtnerships by Malcom Gladwell This insight lead me to Sobel’s book on building trusted client relationships where he outlines ten strategies for transforming client relationships - five individual strategies and five institutional strategies. Focusing on professional service companies, with a strong emphasis of research and insight from accounting firms, Sobol stresses the importance of collaboration and mobilisation of the right people, ideas and resources from wherever they may reside (the “all” in the title) to create a singular focus on each client relationship (the “one”). This book provides invaluable resources and ideas on developing relationship capital, institutionalising client relationships, targeting the right clients and creating unique client experiences.