The Case for Leadership
Many leaders are finding the current talent market challenging. High turnover rates, employees across industries resigning in record numbers, and the “great reshuffling” of white collar workers to the exurbs have leaders wondering how to retain their talent in a market where signing bonuses and “work-from-anywhere” perks may attract but not, by themselves, retain talent. The pandemic has brought into focus the need for leaders and managers to foster connection, engagement, learning and innovation. While a signing bonus might have attracted a new colleague, your leadership skills and your team’s culture are key factors in retaining them. And, if you’re concerned that your top talent will jump ship, enhancing your leadership abilities can help keep them engaged with their work, with colleagues, and with clients.
A Helpful Model: Multimodal Leadership
Among the many leadership models and philosophies, a recent MIT Sloan Management Review article describing “Multimodal Leadership” stands out because of its acknowledgement of the new hybrid workplace. It helps leaders understand the various roles (Champion, Conductor, Coach, and Catalyst) they play in context, and how they can nurture individual and team engagement, learning, and innovation in a distributed environment. We thought it might be helpful to discuss this leadership model using an example many readers may find familiar. In the example below, Emma, a law firm partner, is a stand-in for busy professionals across industries. Multimodal leadership is particularly appropriate for the law firm setting because of the traditional apprenticeship model of senior lawyers passing on their knowledge to less experienced ones.
Multimodal Leadership in Action
Emma is a law firm partner with a very busy practice. She is working with an executive coach who has turned her on to the multimodal leadership model.
Leader as Champion
According to the authors Hooijberg and Watkins, leaders who act as Champions for their teams are external advocates. They can support their teams by securing resources and making sure their colleagues have access to the right assignments, feedback, and mentors. Emma seized the opportunity to support one of her senior associates, John, when he came to her for a career conversation. John wanted advice on how to put his best foot forward for partnership. Emma shed some light on the firm’s partnership process, encouraged John to expand his network, and advised him to seek out additional mentors. She called some of her partners to recommend they staff John on their matters. Reflecting on this experience, Emma felt confident that John was more “plugged in” to the firm because she had championed him. She wasn’t sure if any of this would have happened if she hadn’t recently signaled to her team that she was supportive of them.
Leader Conductor
Leader as conductor is an apt metaphor. To cite the authors, the role is “akin to that of an orchestra director, who ensures that musicians play well individually and in harmony.” Conducting has become more important in our new hybrid environment. Emma noticed her project management approach paying off at the end of a recent matter. Pre-pandemic, she would “set and forget” deadlines for projects. She has now modified her approach and gets her team together for an initial launch meeting over Zoom, where she and her team discuss the matter, her client’s business goals, and the various project milestones. She asks her team whether they see any barriers to meeting deadlines and builds in strategies to make sure any issues are resolved immediately. As a result, her matters run more smoothly, and Emma is not constantly frustrated by her team’s lack of communication. The associates she works with also demonstrate more ownership and initiative.
Leader as Coach
Coaching is a critical skill for leaders. Leaders who use coaching help their teams learn, experiment, and push beyond their comfort zone, and as a result they are more likely to see their teams achieve peak performance. Coaching was challenging for Emma at first. She was used to a more direct, authoritative approach. When she learned more about her team members’ professional goals, she felt more comfortable giving them feedback. She noticed that, when giving feedback, it helped to put herself in the associate’s shoes and remember that she too had learned from more senior lawyers. She learned that her feedback was better received and more likely to be implemented if she explicitly stated her intention to provide support rather than to criticize.
Leader as Catalyst
Similar to the Coach role, a leader who acts as a Catalyst is focused on helping others shine. A catalyst fosters collaboration, and helps members of the team make connections, learn, and innovate. Emma understood the importance of building trust with her team when a paralegal delivered an incomplete report. She learned that the report was left unfinished because the paralegal was uncertain about whether to include a key document and preferred to deliver an incomplete assignment rather than to ask Emma for her opinion. When debriefing on this incident with her coach, Emma realized that her team did not always feel comfortable coming to her with questions. While her clients appreciate her direct “no-nonsense” style, it sometimes makes colleagues hesitate to ask questions or propose alternative solutions. Emma is now very intentional about her approach with her colleagues. She creates a sense of psychological safety by listening to a range of opinions and by inviting her team to ask questions and push back on her ideas. She thinks this approach will ultimately lead to better work product.
Leadership as a Learned Skill
Leading and managing others is a specific skillset often learned on the job. Some of us learn by observing others, applying techniques others used with us, or by trial and error. Some organizations also offer leadership development programs. In a post-pandemic era, leadership skills are at a premium and are a key element of your broader talent management and retention strategy.
