Tune Up Sign 5: Kissing Up, Kicking Down

Hearing your culture described as ‘kissing up, kicking down’ makes you chuckle nervously or groan in agreement.

What does this indicate?

If true, this may indicate a counterproductive hyper-competitiveness in the firm. It may also indicate incentive systems which are too narrowly structured or which do not reward equally for the various contributions to the firm. It may also indicate cultures which put too great of an emphasis on the recommendations of key leaders and too little on peer level reviews. Lastly, this could indicate a lack of communication among the various levels of attorneys in the firm to address social and personal development issues in the firm.

Hyper competitiveness in law firms results in lower revenue growth, structural fragility, reduced morale and increased attorney churn. In today’s economy and changing client expectations, this type of eat-what-you-kill structure can actually do more damage than good.

This is the fifth in a ten part series explaining signs that indicate that your firm or personal marketing program could use a tune up.

Tomorrow: What does low client expansion indicate?

As always, if I can help you fix the ‘kinks’ in your business development, give Eric a call at 502-693-4731. You’ll find that I am an eager resource and that it costs nothing to talk.