What is Your "Office Personality"?
Compliments of: Nancy Byerly Jones, Attorney and Leadership/Management Consultant

Let's assume that your firm has decided to quit calling everyone by their names. Instead, they will call each person by the alias most descriptive of their dominant office personality. Which one of the following aliases might be bestowed upon you?

Mr./Ms. Positive or Negativity? Decisive or Procrastinator? Assertive or Aggressive? Team Player or My-Way-Or-No-Way? Disorganized or Planner? Calm or Hyper? What's Best-For-The-Client or What's-In-It-For-Me?

Most of us are some mix of these or other types, but one personality usually dominates. And taking a moment to consider what best describes your dominant work personality can be very helpful in making some workplace assessments.

I see all of the office personalities listed above and plenty of other types in offices across the country in my consulting work with attorneys and staff. Too often, it seems the less desirable personalities outnumber the good ones. Worse, they are allowed to flourish in too many situations. Firm leaders may actually enable perpetuation of negative behavior by ignoring it and not holding the culprits accountable for the damage they inevitably cause. Conversely, positive personalities are rarely rewarded adequately, if at all, for the many benefits reaped from their morale boosting, can-do attitudes, thoughtfulness and sense of vision and smart business planning.

So what are the potential harmful results of allowing negative personalities to spread their toxic vibes amidst the troops? Some of the less desirable office personalities may ask, "So what if I'm Mr./Ms. Negative? I do my job well and bring in plenty of income for the firm. I'm not here to win a popularity contest." And naysayers work hard to convince us that needed changes won't work, people can't change and it's a waste of time to do things just for the sake of building a positive office morale. They suggest that's "warm and fuzzy stuff" and not fitting for real lawyers.

But this is the wrong approach. Because rewarding negative personalities while not celebrating positive ones can lead to firms with communication deficits, ongoing internal feuds, behind-the-times technology, sloppy, if any, true marketing, inadequate associate development, dangerously skimpy risk management and much more.

There are numerous examples. Indecisive and/or timid leaders can leave important changes that are desperately needed hanging in limbo ad nauseum.

Deceitful attorneys and staff put their firms at a much higher risk of malpractice claims, disgruntled clients and losing other honest, hard-working employees who eventually have had all they can take.

Procrastinators and lazy employees cause all sorts of problems, both daily and long-term, for the firm and its clients. Promises are repeatedly broken, deadlines are missed and the aggravation, chaos and stress suffered by co-workers and clients causes costly decreases in productivity, increases in malpractice risks and more.

Why then are attorneys and staff members with destructive personalities not held accountable? Usually, it is because (1) the firm's leadership has never defined accountability in the first place or (2) they want to avoid the discomfort of holding others accountable even if they have established rules and policies for acceptable behavior and identified consequences for noncompliance.

Simply put, it is a difficult task to hold employees accountable. But most child experts advocate that parents apply tough love when necessary with problem children. Likewise, tough management is required from time to time in the well-run office. This means law office leaders must have the foresight, courage and willingness to make and carry out the tough decisions that inevitably arise in the managing of a successful firm and dealing with destructive personality types.

Tough management does not mean impulsive or disrespectful behavior is warranted when it comes to problem attorneys or staff. It can and should be done respectfully, consistently, clearly and in a timely manner.

A lawyer's plate typically overflows with "to-do's", deadlines imposed by third parties and other professional and personal responsibilities. It's easy to rationalize that "It's someone else's job to hold folks accountable" or "My client work is far more important than bothering with silly administrative matters." The bottom line, however, is that if firm leaders don't take the proper administration of their firms and accountability seriously, why should anyone else? And if everyone is allowed to do their own thing whether it's in the firm's best interests or not, why go to the trouble of establishing goals, systems, rules or policies in the first place?

As with most of our management choices, in the end it is a simple decision to make. Do we hold ourselves and others accountable to do what's in the firm's and clients' best interests? Or do we allow each person to set and follow their own rules and standards regardless of the consequences to the firm and its reputation, its employees and our clients?

In wrapping up, think about the different office personalities in your firm. Are there more positive ones than negatives or is it the other way around? Are positive personalities appropriately rewarded and appreciated? Are the folks with negative personalities in your firm allowed to spread their poison regardless of the consequences? And finally, how would your coworkers characterize your dominant office personality and would they say you typically leave a positive or negative impact in your interactions with them and others?

A similar version of this column was first published by Lawyers USA in February 2007.

Compliments of:
Nancy Byerly Jones
Nancy Byerly Jones & Associates, Inc.
Banner Elk, NC
(828) 264-1448
nbj@nbjconsulting.com
www.nbjconsulting.com

About the Author: Attorney and mediator Nancy Byerly Jones serves law offices and businesses as a leadership/management consultant, retreat facilitator, coach and mediator of partner and other intra-office conflicts. She also speaks and writes nationally on these subject matters. For more information, please visit her website at www.nbjconsulting.com or contact her via e-mail: nbj@nbjconsulting.com or phone at 828/264-1448.