The issue of underperformance at partner level remains incredibly agonising and sensitive in law firms. Low demand for legal services has been compounded by an increase in the competitive forces both inside and outside the legal profession. Life has become even more difficult for partners, for whom performance demands have increased at the same time as the availability of work has tailed off. Underperformance continues to affect law firms in many ways, not least of which are diminished pro...

International expert and consultant David Maister offers a brilliant and accessible guide to every management issue at play in professional firms.Professional firms differ from other business enterprises in two distinct ways: first, they provide highly customized services and thus cannot apply many of the management principles developed for product-based industries. Second, professional services are highly personalized, involving the skills of individuals. Such fir...

Learn why bad decisions happen to good managers—and how to make better ones.If you read nothing else on decision making, read these 10 articles. We’ve combed through hundreds of articles in the Harvard Business Review archive and selected the most important ones to help you and your organization make better choices and avoid common traps.Leading experts such as Ram Charan, Michael Mankins, and Thomas Davenport provide the insights and advic...

David Maister, the world's premier consultant to professional service firms, vigorously challenges professionals to examine this essential, yet under-addressed question: What is true professionalism?Professional firms are forever trying to get their people to act like professionals—to do the right things. Though their various incentives may create employee compliance, these don't often encourage excellence. His answer is clear: It is believing passionately in what ...

Why do bad decisions happen to good managers?If you need the best practices and ideas for smart decision making--but don't have time to find them--this book is for you. Here are 10 inspiring and usefulperspectives, all in one place.This collection of HBR articles will help you:- Make bold decisions that challenge the status quo- Support your decisions with diverse data- Avoid choices that justify past bad decisions- Evaluate risks and ...

Performance appraisals are used in the overwhelming majority of workplaces. Yet, most organizations that use appraisal-and a similar percentage of givers and receivers of appraisal-are dissatisfied with the process. Many are beginning to deeply question whether appraisal is necessary and consistent with the work culture espoused by progressive organizations. Abolishing Performance Appraisals provides an insightful, well documented look at the flaws of appraisal-including its destructive, u...

Hands-on help for quicklyand persuasivelywriting company-mandated performance appraisalsWriting performance appraisals is one of the most difficult and time-consuming tasks managers face. Perfect Phrases for Performance Reviews simplifies the job, providing a comprehensive collection of phrases that managers can use to describe employee performance, provide directions for improvement, and more. For example:"Sets priorities well""Mis...

Praise for Reinventing Talent Management"Bill Schiemann's book is a comprehensive presentation of the need to better understand, measure, and increase organizational people equity. It clearly transforms concepts that have historically been considered less tangible into actionable imperatives. Today more than ever, it's essential that leadership maximizes alignment, capabilities, and engagement within their organizations."—Paul Schultz

The Entrepreneurial Mindset shows you step-by-step the processes involved in becoming a successful entrepreneur and certain mindsets to imbibe while pointing to habits you must desist from if you want to create and maintain wealth. The authors present simple but powerful ways to stop thinking and acting by the old rules and start thinking with the discipline of a habitual entrepreneur.

As CEO, you set the vision, the strategy, and the tone of your organization.You establish priorities, anticipate and address challenges, champion and lead change efforts, set people up for success, and manage risk. Though you may have a great senior executive team and a top-flight board, the success of your organization depends on your leadership.If you read nothing else on being an effective chief executive, read these 10 articles by experts in the field. ...

CLOSING THE EXECUTION GAPOnce upon a time strategy was king. Leaders immersed themselves in the matter of planning how best to achieve their company's goals. The subject dominated the attention of senior executives and the writings of consultants and management gurus. Experts of various stripes weighed in on how to put strategic planning processes in place and transform employees at all levels into strategic thinkers.Naturally, leaders assumed all this stra...

Drawing on their work on performance management within the ‘beyond budgeting’ movement over the past ten years, including many interviews and case studies, Jeremy Hope, Peter Bunce and Franz Röösli set out in this book an executive guide to building a new management model based on eight key change management issues:1. Governance: From rules and budgets to purpose and values2. Success: From fixed targets to relative improvement...