The ability to lead a successful team of attorneys is a basic cornerstone of excelling as a law firm. But what does it take to lead and how to do you overcome obstacles? Let’s take a closer look at some of the most essential elements of team leadership at any law firm.

Develop critical vetting skills.

Before you lead any team, you must build one and you can’t do that unless you know how to properly vet individuals who want to join your team. If you’re looking to shore up your existing team of attorneys or build a new team, you must be able to recognize what makes an attorney the right person for the job. If you can’t do that, it may be best to hire someone else to do the job. Remember, take your time hiring new team members and don’t allow yourself to become so price sensitive that you dismiss skilled individuals for those who have fewer skills but cost less.

Do the heavy lifting.

While building a strong team is important to the productivity of any law firm, to be successful you must be willing do the heavy lifting. While your attorney team should be equipped to handle basic cases and tasks, there are some issues that are so complicated and challenging that no one but you can do them. Recognize this in advance and commit to keeping an eye out for those times when you need to do the heavy lifting in terms of case load and difficulty. This may mean taking on the more challenging cases, but it also may mean being the first one in the office and the last to leave. Your willingness to make the most sacrifices and do the most heavy lifting will go a long way in winning respect for your leadership.

Learn to delegate effectively.

Delegating work to your team members is an essential function of leadership. Not only must you delegate tasks that you can’t do yourself, you should also delegate tasks in a way that exploits each attorney’s skills and help them grow as lawyers. Delegating isn’t just about handing out work and responsibilities, it’s about helping your team of attorneys build their skills and grow their individual careers. That’s why it’s important that you make some effort to delegate work in a way that corresponds with and supports the individual lawyer’s aspirations. Even if you can only do this a small percent of the time, it shows that you’re a thoughtful leader.

Always critique work thoughtfully.

Lawyers are notorious for being ill-tempered—some attorneys take pride in the stereotype but that’s a mistake. Good, solid leaders never carry on with mean-spirited critiques of their attorneys because they know that such rants only harm morale and productivity. A good critique should point out mistakes and give guidance on how to do a thing correctly. Good leaders keep an eye out for mistakes but they also keep an eye out for excellence and progress. When you see your attorney team improving be just as passionate about praising their improvements as you are with criticizing their failings. This is the type of leadership that makes it possible to effectively lead a team of attorneys, big or small.

Striving to improve your leadership skills will help you put your law firm on the road to success.

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Jane Oxley is President of Smokeball, a productivity and case management software provider that increases efficiency and profitability for solo attorneys and small law firms. Jane’s worked in the legal field for her entire career, spending over 20 years engaged with small law firms. She has a strong affinity with small law firms and the crucial role they play in the communities they serve and is passionate about helping them work towards more productive and less stressful practices.