When Professionals Have to Lead: A New Model for High Performance

Introduction

The nature of professional services is changing, as firms experience greater internal demands from their professionals and greater external demands from clients. Associates have development needs that often aren’t being met; clients expect firms to be all things to all people, requesting help in areas where firms may have little or no expertise. In this environment, senior partners, practice group heads, and other leaders of professional service firms, or PSFs, require guidance about how to lead and manage within such a changing world.

Unfortunately, the majority of leaders are using old frameworks and ways of thinking to fashion makeshift behaviors to meet these new challenges. For many, the answer is to work longer hours and become ...