Why law firms need a CLO (chief listening officer)


While looking at job titles may seem simplistic, it actually throws up some interesting trends (and I'm not repeating my rant about putting the words "equity partner" on your business card). In some firms, the adoption of the CEO and CFO titles genuinely represents a shift to a more corporate structure, where the executive have more authority. This was required as firms became more complex and more distributed - the slow, consensual nature of partnership was hampering firms' ability to move at the pace required by the market, and a changing governance structure was one response.



And this brings me to the title of the post - an alternative meaning for CLO. The answer comes in a post (set out below in italics) from the prolific and thought-provoking legal blogger, Julian Summerhayes about the role of the managing partner.

To my mind, listening, the critical skill Julian references is critical for all lawyers, not just in their legal work, but also in their selling (see number one in my list of top lawyer sales fails). So whether you're a managing partner or not, read on and reflect on how practising and developing this skill might help you:


You know the score: two lawyers can't agree the time of day. And you magnify that up to include the plethora of issues, including the big one - PEP - and is it any wonder that poor old managing partner feels like s/he is dealing with a swarm of angry bees?

What do you think is the role of your firm's managing partner? 

  • Leader?
  • Visionary?
  • Communicator?
  • Motivator?
  • Political strategist?
  • Tough negotiator?

I'll give you my view:



Scary in what sense?




Of course most large firms will have a Human Resources department but my experience of such departments is that they are more focused on making sure the correct procedure is followed than listening to people. In fairness they don't really have the power to make a difference - they know that any major decision will be deferred to one of the partners.

Without wanting to name any of the managing partners that I worked under, the one that stands out was the one who took time to stop by whenever he was in the office, put his head around the door and simply say "Hello Julian. How are you?"

There was no agenda. He seemed genuinely interested, and didn't automatically jump the fence and ask "Are you busy?" As if I was going to confess to surfing the Net all day because I was bored out of my mind doing crap work!


Listening is a strategic skill.


As a skill set it is matchless.



As I mentioned in yesterday's post the people we find most interesting are the people who are most interested in us.


Don't do anything else.


Don't steer the conversation in any one way.

Let one question follow on from the next.

Be humble.

Be patient.

And don't finish the conversation until the other person has finished what they have to say.



Slow down and listen.


It is the small detail (if you can call listening 'small') that can often make the biggest difference.

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