Rhode - Lawyers as Leaders

Lawyers as Leaders

DEBORAH L. RHODE

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Deborah L. Rhode
Lawyers as leaders / Deborah L. Rhode
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 9780199896226 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. LawyersUnited StatesPsychology. 2. LeadershipUnited States. 3. LeadershipUnited StatesPsychological aspects. 4. LeadershipMoral and ethical aspectsUnited States. 5. Practice of lawUnited StatesPsychological aspects. I. Title.
KF298.R48 2013
340.0684dc23
2013011935

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

For Ralph

THIS BOOK OWES many debts. Amanda Packel, Executive Director of Stanfords Center on the Legal Profession, provided insightful comments on an earlier draft, and served as my coauthor on a text of leadership teaching materials on which this book draws, Leadership, Law, Policy, and Management (2011). David McBride of Oxford University Press offered wisdom in the shaping and editing of the project. Donald Polden, Dean of Santa Clara Law School, provided helpful comments and convened inspiring leadership roundtables at which chapters of this book were presented. The staff of the Stanford Law library provided invaluable research assistance; I am particularly indebted to Paul Lomio, Sonia Moss, Rich Porter, Rachael Samberg, Sergio Stone, George Vizvary, Erika Wayne, and George Wilson. Laurel Schroeder, my extraordinarily gifted assistant at the Stanford Law School, made this and all my other academic efforts possible. Barbara Kellerman, the James MacGregor Burns lecturer in public leadership at Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of Government, helped lure me into the field of leadership, and enriched my understanding of its dynamics. Finally, in this endeavor, as in all others, my deepest debt is to my husband, Ralph Cavanagh. His support, wisdom, and example of leadership in law mean more than I can ever express.

Lawyers as Leaders

IT IS IRONIC that the occupation most responsible for producing Americas leaders has focused so little attention on that role. The legal profession has supplied a majority of American presidents, and in recent decades, almost half the members of Congress.

This book is a step toward filling the gap. Its aim is to shed new light on why we trust lawyers with so much power and why we are so often disappointed in their performance. My central claim is that the legal profession attracts a large number of individuals with the ambition and analytic capabilities to be leaders, but frequently fails to develop other qualities that are essential to effectiveness. The focus of legal education and the reward structure of legal practice undervalues interpersonal capabilities and ethical commitments that are necessary for successful leadership. Drawing on a broad array of interdisciplinary research, as well as biographical and autobiographical profiles, the book explores leadership competencies that are too often missing in practice.

Discussion proceeds in three parts. The first section of the book offers an overview of leadership traits, styles, and development. This introductory addresses core leadership capabilities: influence, decision making, innovation, conflict management, and communication.

A second section of the book addresses ethics in leadership. explores scandals: the role of hypocrisy, the corrosion of judgments involving money and sex, and the dynamics of crisis management and corrective action.

A third section of the book views leadership in context. focuses on lawyers in social movements: the conditions of social change, and the leadership strategies that have been most and least effective in producing it. A final chapter looks at the legacy of leaders. Drawing together themes from the preceding chapters as well as empirical research on successful leadership, the book concludes with thoughts on what lawyers can do to advance their individual commitments and the public interest.

To put this exploration of leadership in context, it makes sense to begin with a paradox. According to a PEW public opinion poll, honesty is the most important leadership trait.

Part of the reason for this seeming mismatch in public attitudes and actions may stem from ambivalence in the publics views. Although they distrust lawyers as a group, Americans like their own lawyers. In one survey, over half of those questioned were very satisfied with the quality of legal services provided and another fifth were somewhat satisfied; only 12 percent were very or somewhat dissatisfied. In short, people want an advocate who will serve their own interests, but not the professional norms that result when everyone else wants the same.

These ambivalent attitudes do not, however, fully account for why lawyers in the United States are so much more likely to occupy leadership roles than lawyers in other societies. Researchers have attributed the distinctive influence of American lawyers to several factors. First, the centrality of law in American culture has contributed to the centrality of the legal profession.

Part of the problem may stem from the mismatch between the traits associated with leaders and those associated with lawyers.

Although, as notes, what constitutes effective leadership depends on context, certain qualities are rated as important across a vast array of leadership situations. The most well-documented characteristics cluster in five categories:

values (such as integrity, honesty, trust, and an ethic of service);

personal skills (such as self awareness, self-control, and self-direction);

interpersonal skills (such as social awareness, empathy, persuasion, and conflict management);

vision (such as a forward-looking and inspirational); and

technical competence (such as knowledge, preparation, and judgment).

A survey of leaders of professional service firms (including law firms) similarly found that the most important leadership qualities involved personal values and interpersonal skills, such as integrity; empathy; communication; and abilities to listen, inspire, and influence.