1. June 2008
www.americanlawyer.com
management
Coach
Like a Pro
■ examine your associate evaluations. at most firms, evaluations
focus on associates’ skills and partnership prospects. but associates
often report that their evaluations are not substantial or detailed
enough, and even when they are, firms may not offer the support
or training that associates need to improve their skills. a meaning-
To improve associate retention,
ful evaluation program must be based on competency: establishing
more firms should take a page from corporate which skills, capabilities, and experiences associates need at each
America’s playbook. stage of their careers, communicating that information to associ-
ates, and evaluating associates against specific benchmarks. Coach-
ing is not a one-size-fits-all process: only when evaluations are
By Joan Newman structured this way can coaching effectively address each associate’s
specific needs.
C
■ Make strong matches. selecting the right partner to coach an as-
oaChing has been used in the corporate sociate involves determining whether the partner excels in the ar-
world for years, but it is relatively new to the legal pro- eas that the associate needs (and wants) to improve or develop in,
fession. nonetheless, it already shows promise as a tool and whether the partner has the interpersonal skills needed to be
in addressing one of the major challenges facing law firms—pre- an effective coach. it is not enough for the partner to excel in the
paring the next generation of leaders to fill management and client substantive areas. he must also be other-directed—interested in
relationship positions soon to be vacated by retiring baby boomers. helping others succeed, and willing to commit time and effort to
Coaching can be used for many purposes, including honing man- support the associate’s growth. Further, the partner must possess
agement skills in firm leaders. but most often it is tied to associate emotional intelligence (self-awareness, the ability to empathize,
training—teaching basic personal skills to new hires and developing and good interpersonal skills); excellent skills in listening, problem
professional and leadership skills in more senior associates. solving, and feedback; and the ability to confront and challenge
Coaching is not the same as mentoring. Mentoring programs are the associate.
geared toward sharing knowledge and skills in a particular area of i’m sometimes asked whether the partner should be in the
expertise. a fully developed coaching program goes beyond men- same practice group as the associate. there’s no right answer—it’s
toring to include personal, substantive, leadership, and professional a judgment that is best made on a case-by-case basis. if the part-
skills. because coaching is targeted to meet individual needs, it is a ner and the associate come from different practice groups, the as-
highly effective means of improving associates’ performance, moti- sociate may be more honest and direct in communicating with the
vation, and firm loyalty. partner. on the other hand, a coaching partner from within the
these are the steps to build an effective coaching program at associate’s practice group may have a better understanding of the
your firm: demands and dynamics of that group.
■ Make the commitment. does your firm fully support and value it is not always necessary that the partner and the associate have
the training and development of its associates? does it recognize the similar personalities and common interests, experiences, and back-
importance of coaching in a competitive marketplace? For its pro- grounds. although it might be easier to build rapport if they share
gram to succeed, a firm must commit to the expense of establishing these common traits, what matters most is that they are compatible
and maintaining the program. that expense includes associate and enough to establish a relationship built on trust and mutual respect.
partner time and effort. the coaching process should be seen as an implementing the coaching process begins with a joint assess-
investment in associate development—a perk, rather than a remedial ment. Later, participants will set goals and objectives, develop ac-
effort to fix suboptimal performance. tion steps and deadlines, and, finally, measure and evaluate prog-

2. management
ress. initially, the partner and associate oritize projects, and developing a system to modifying the action steps or adding new
should have open and direct discussions meet deadlines for each project. ones. upon successful completion of the ac-
about the skills that the associate needs to once the objectives are established, the tion steps, the associate should have a work-
improve or develop. the partner might ask associate can identify two or three specific able process for improving the desired skill.
the following questions. along with the actions needed to accomplish each objec- the partner should periodically touch base
associate’s evaluations, the answers to these tive and assign deadlines to each action. the with the associate to support the associate’s
questions can be used to determine which objectives, actions, and deadlines should be use of the process and to make sure it is still
skill or behavior should be coached, assess in writing. this will help the partner and beneficial. if the associate does not follow
the associate’s commitment to the process, the associate track the associate’s progress. the action plan or becomes disengaged, the
develop an action plan, and establish a pro- in this example, the objectives and actions partner will need to confront him to deter-
cedure to evaluate and maintain the new might look like this (since this is a hypotheti- mine the reasons for the disengagement. if
skill or behavior. cal, i didn’t include deadlines): the associate does not renew his commit-
■ What do you want to improve or change? ment to the process, the partner can end
■ What is your level of competency for the Objective: create a master list of projects. the coaching relationship.
skill you want to improve? ■ decide upon the most effective method Coaching can place great demands on a
■ how do you think others perceive you or for establishing and maintaining the master partner’s time and interest. those demands
your skill level? list (e.g., in longhand or on a computer). often conflict with other priorities—billable
■ how would you benefit, or what would ■ List all projects and action steps necessary hours, business and client development, and
be different for you, if you could improve to complete the project. administrative duties. also, it is sometimes
the skill? ■ List deadlines for each project and all ac- difficult to find suitable partner-associate
■ on a scale of 1 to 10, how confident are tion steps. matches. For these reasons, firms sometimes
you that you can improve the skill? use external coaches, despite the expense of
■ have you previously tried to improve this Objective: Develop a process to such services. because an external coach is
skill? What did you do, and did it work? if it prioritize and reprioritize projects regularly. not a stakeholder in the firm, the associate
didn’t work, why not? ■ set aside time each week to review the may consider the coaching process more
■ are there barriers that presently hinder master list and prioritize and reprioritize confidential and be more open in revealing
your progress, and if so, what are they? projects. his feelings and perceptions. in addition, an
■ What can you do to minimize or deal with ■ update the master list weekly for new external coach is likely to be more skilled in
these barriers? projects, action steps, and deadlines. coaching methodology and may have more
■ how will you know if you achieve your goal? time to devote to the process.
Let’s imagine that you are coaching an Objective: Keep a calendar of project Whether the firm relies on internal or
associate who wants to improve his project deadlines. external coaches, or a combination of both,
management skills—specifically, organize ■ enter all project and action-step deadlines the benefits of coaching for the firm and the
projects more effectively and complete them in a calendar. associates are undeniably necessary and im-
on time. through conversations with the as- ■ schedule periods of time to work on measurably valuable. in today’s competitive
sociate you learn that he does not have an ef- each project (so the time isn’t used for marketplace, it is more important than ever
fective system to identify, review, and priori- other projects). that firms find the time, make the effort,
tize projects on a regular basis, and has not ■ note any information or any tasks that and delegate the resources to building and
developed basic time management skills to others need to perform in order for the implementing a solid coaching program.
assure the timely completion of projects. project to be accomplished.
so the next phase of the coaching pro- the coaching partner and the associate Joan Newman is a consultant in St.
cess—setting objectives—might include will need to review the associate’s progress Louis who specializes in associate
creating a master list for all projects, es- in taking the established action steps and training and coaching. E-mail: joan@
tablishing a process to prioritize and repri- meeting the deadlines. this may lead to joannewmanassociates.com.
Reprinted with permission from the June 2008 edition of The AmeRicAn LAwyeR © 2008 ALm Properties, inc. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is
prohibited. For information, contact 212-545-6111 or visit www.almreprints.com. # 001-06-08-0006