A new 3-dimensional model for managing talent in Professional Service Firms
White paper
A new 3-dimensional model for managing talent in
Professional Service Firms
Phil Gott - March 2006
________________________________________________________________________________
Most professional service firms are squandering their
primary resource – their talented professionals. This
white paper introduces a new 3-dimensional ‘Star
Professionals Model’ for clarifying professional roles
and career progression.
Contents
_______________________________________________________________
Chapter:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Summary
Symptoms of a problem
What’s causing the problem
A new 3-dimensional approach – the STAR professionals model
Combining excellence in two dimensions
Essential skills
Motivating through a sense of purpose
Practical implications
Making a start
Your views
Postscript
02
03
04
07
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
© Phil Gott – March 2006
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A new 3-dimensional model for managing talent in Professional Service Firms
Summary
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Summary:

Most professional service firms are squandering their most
important resource – their talented professionals. This is
evidenced by staff turnover rates of 25%, 30% or more, everspiralling remuneration packages, growing disillusionment,
difficulty in attracting professionals of the right quality, and
under-performance. Even for a small office, tackling these
issues would generate substantial additional profits as well as
significant non-financial benefits.

The following inter-related factors seem to be the main causes:
o over-emphasising billings and business development, at
the expense of other forms of contribution to overall
performance
o relying on single-track progression in which the
hierarchical management structure also serves as a career
ladder, leading many professionals into roles for which they
may not be best-suited
o perpetuating the myth of the well-rounded professional,
whereas in reality successful professional people are
rarely well-rounded but sharp - excellent at something,
which more than compensates for being just OK in other
respects
o expecting money to be a major motivator, when really the
best way to motivate is to offer ever more intrinsically
satisfying work and advancement.

This white paper introduces a new “STAR Professionals Model”
for clarifying professional roles and career progression. At the
heart of this model is a need for professionals to set and
accomplish worthwhile career goals, so providing the
motivation to succeed.

The STAR professionals model identifies 3 success dimensions
(client development, leadership and pioneering) and 6
professional roles which offer alternative routes to professional
success:
o Trusted Adviser
o Practice Leader
o Thought Leader
o Project Leader
o Creative Solutions Provider
o Client Service Team Leader.

Whichever of these roles a professional chooses to pursue there
will be some essential skills or qualities they will also need to
develop. In particular, a commitment to learning, and
emotional intelligence.

The following are the 3 main areas for attention to action these
changes:
o Introducing career mapping and job sculpting
o Re-focusing training and development
o Designing new metrics to support performance selfmanagement.
‘Successful
professionals
are rarely
well-rounded
but sharp’
© Phil Gott – March 2006
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A new 3-dimensional model for managing talent in Professional Service Firms
Chapter 1 – Symptoms of a problem
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Symptoms of a problem:
Stella is a successful partner in a major law
firm. She has developed an excellent reputation
for winning and developing clients and has been
one of the firm’s highest billing partners. In
recognition of this her promotion to head the
firm’s corporate department was widely seen as
a logical next step, and it was felt by many that
the department would benefit from Stella’s
drive and uncompromising standards.
Over the next two years Stella would see some
of her key partners and staff poached by
another firm. Others would become disgruntled
at the pressure they were being put under and
would increasingly complain about the lack of
leadership in the department. Stella would find
herself struggling to devote sufficient time to
her client portfolio because of the timeconsuming management chores she was having
to squeeze in.
Amy, a senior manager in an accountancy firm,
is known to be an excellent people manager
with a loyal staff following. However, because
her business development skills are felt to be
lacking she is not seen as suitable for admission
to the partnership as a client relationship
partner.
Within a few months Amy would become
disillusioned, not knowing where to take her
career. As her performance suffered she would
become a target for criticism from some
partners. She would not be greatly missed
when, within a year, she decided to move to
another firm.
Spike is a management consultant who is seen
as having flair, creativity and occasional
brilliance. However, it is felt that his sometimes
off-the-wall style makes him unsuitable to lead
a client team and he is not offered the natural
promotion to team leader.
Demoralised, Spike would reconcile himself to
coasting along as a consultant and would never
realise his potential. He would increasingly be
seen as a cynical under-achiever who didn’t
quite fit the mould.
The scenarios opposite are largely fictional,
though everyone in a professional service firm, if
they stop and look around, knows a Stella, an
Amy, a Spike or numerous others like them. Yes,
if they stop and look around, though in the normal
course of events these various forms of
mismanagement and under-performance go
largely unchallenged.
If individual scenarios fail sufficiently to illustrate
the inadequacies in the way roles are allocated
and careers are commonly managed, ask for
some cold facts and figures for your firm:

What is your firm’s turnover rate amongst
partners and professional staff? (Rates of
30% and more are not uncommon in
professional service firms and one firm
estimated that it costs $150,000 every
time an employee leaves). If rates could
be reduced what would it save your firm in
terms of recruitment, training, etc?

Is your firm having to offer ever-spiralling
salaries, yet still struggling to attract
professionals of the right calibre? If your
firm became more attractive to recruits,
without having to offer higher financial
rewards, what would that save your firm?

To what extent are your professionals
fulfilling their potential? When asked,
professionals regularly admit to operating
at only 50% to 70% of their potential. If
your people performed at a higher level
and found their work more fulfilling, what
would that contribute to profitability?
Of course, there will always be some staff
turnover. Excellent professionals will rightly
expect to be rewarded. There will always be a
need to search out new talent. And people will
always have some untapped potential. But can
your firm afford to unnecessarily squander its
people resources? Do the calculation for your
firm.
This is not to suggest that the only reason to
make changes is to generate better financial
results. Yet better financial results can be a very
welcome outcome from providing more fulfilling
work, better prospects for advancement and more
rewarding careers.
© Phil Gott – March 2006
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A new 3-dimensional model for managing talent in Professional Service Firms
Chapter 2 – What’s causing the problem?
______________________________________________________________________________________________
What’s causing the problem?
There seem to be several inter-related factors conspiring to create this
situation. Here are some of the main ones:
The pre-eminence of billings and business development
Client billings and new business development have become the main or only
real focus of management in most professional service firms. Professionals
are sometimes categorised into:

Finders: the “rainmakers” with the ability and inclination to win new
clients

Minders: professionals who lack the hard-nose of the finders but who
are good at maintaining and building relationships with clients brought
in by the finders

Grinders: fee earners who can just “grind out” large amounts of work
behind the scenes but who lack the ability or willingness to win or
develop client relationships.
Accolades have traditionally been bestowed mainly on the finders and, to a
lesser extent on the minders. The grinders, whilst valued for their
contribution, have been seen as third class citizens who might never make it
to equity or even to partnership.
This approach, whilst pragmatically appealing, seems too simplistic. It focuses
exclusively on the client dimension of professional work. Whilst this is
certainly important, it is not the whole story and the approach risks undervaluing other forms of contribution to the well-being of a professional service
firm.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Single-track progression – the career ladder
‘The
hierarchical
career model is
woefully
inadequate to
meet the needs
of today’s
ambitious
professionals’
The hierarchical management structures on which most professional firms
are based has historically also served as a career structure. There is no
reason why it necessarily should. Advancement has simply meant moving
into positions with progressively more management responsibility and
reward. Juniors report to (and aim to become) seniors, who in turn report
to (and become) managers… then salaried partners… then equity partners.
To provide more of a career path, some firms have introduced
intermediate stepping stones along the way – the assistant managers,
associate directors, etc.
This crude one-dimensional approach to career development - along a
management dimension - has provided an easy but imperfect avenue for
the ambitious. The easiness is illustrated by metaphors which speak of a
career path or career ladder, through which the next logical step is made
obvious. The imperfection is illustrated by the large numbers of people
who are dissatisfied with their lot; who regard themselves as in a rat race
or treadmill; who find themselves increasingly managing people when it is
© Phil Gott – March 2006
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A new 3-dimensional model for managing talent in Professional Service Firms
neither what they enjoy nor what they are best at; or who simply fail to
make the grade in the needlessly narrowing pyramid.
So whilst the simplicity of the hierarchical career model is superficially
attractive, in truth it is woefully inadequate to meet the needs of today’s
ambitious professionals and the firms in which they operate.
For those labelled “less ambitious” the problem has been a different one.
"Getting on" has traditionally been the name of the game and those less
keen to enter the race have felt like lesser beings, guilty for being satisfied
with what they were doing. Worse still, many unwisely move into
management roles just because it is an expected career step. It is
damaging for them, for those they manage, and for their organisation.
So those who are ambitious can feel exasperated at the lack of promotion
opportunities and cannot recognise any other avenues for advancement.
Those who are not seeking career promotions in the traditional sense, but
who do want advancement and satisfaction from their jobs, can feel
threatened and do not know how best to respond.
____________________________________________________________________________________
The myth of the well-rounded professional
Perhaps recognising that there is more to professional life than “finding”,
“minding” and “grinding”, many professional firms have established lists of
competencies that their partners and fee earners are all expected to
possess. As well as developing their technical knowledge, they are
expected to pick up skills in marketing, client service, leadership, etc. In
essence, they are expected to become “well rounded” professionals.
Yet in reality, successful professional people are rarely well-rounded. They
are sharp. They are excellent at something. And this excellence more than
compensates for being just OK in some other respects.
‘Professional
success can
have many
guises. There
need not be a
single recipe’
So, for example:

One professional might be excellent at building strong relationships
with clients and bringing in new work for the firm. Yet she may not be
the greatest at leading a team. Does that mean she cannot be
successful? Only if she is unwisely thrust into leading a practice group.

Another professional might be excellent at leading a team and bringing
out the best in people such that his practice area is the most
successful in a firm. Does it matter that his technical skills are merely
acceptable? Not so long as he can readily call on experts when needed.

Yet another professional might be at the forefront in his chosen field,
having “written the book” and being in great demand on the
conference circuit, so raising his firm’s profile. How important is it that
he is less effective in front of clients where his technical purity lacks a
certain pragmatic edge? Not very, so long as he is not expected to
front a client relationship.
The fact is that professional success can have many guises. There need
not be a single recipe, but a rich variety to meet individual tastes.
© Phil Gott – March 2006
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A new 3-dimensional model for managing talent in Professional Service Firms
Expecting money to be a major motivator
Many firms seem to believe that their professionals are best motivated by
money. As a result there is sadly a growing band of professionals who
devote themselves to an uninspiring and unfulfilling “career” driven by
billing targets and financial rewards rather than by a personal drive to
achieve something genuinely worthwhile.
The best way to recognise and reward high performance is to offer ever
more challenging and intrinsically satisfying work. Of course financial
rewards have some importance too, because professional people expect to
be rewarded for their contribution, but it is not the most significant factor.
Some time ago I commissioned a survey to find out why partners switch
from one firm to another; i.e. what attracts them to a new firm. 50
partners who had recently moved firms were asked their reasons for doing
so. In summary the following findings emerged:

The firm’s culture was a factor mentioned by half the partners, and
for 20 per cent it was the first or second reason given.

Opportunity for advancement was cited by half the partners, and
was the first or second reason given by more than 40 per cent of
them.

Quality of work was referred to by two-thirds and was mentioned
first or second by more than 40 per cent of partners.

Financial considerations were mentioned first or second by half the
partners but not by the other half, and financial considerations
were not mentioned at all by more than 40 per cent of partners.
‘Financial
carrots are all
too frequently
grasped at as
an easy, if
expensive,
solution to
performance
and retention
issues’
This is not the place for a debate on remuneration and profit sharing
policy. It is simply worth noting that financial carrots are all too frequently
grasped at as an easy, if expensive, solution to performance and retention
issues. The reality is, however, that without tackling the underlying issues,
their effect will be short-term at best.
___________________________________________________________________________
© Phil Gott – March 2006
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A new 3-dimensional model for managing talent in Professional Service Firms
Chapter 3 – A new 3-dimensional approach
– the STAR Professionals Model
______________________________________________________________________________________________
A new 3-dimensional approach - the STAR Professionals Model
Here is a suggested new model to bring clarity to the roles fulfilled by professionals and to provide a
structure for pursuing a successful career in professional services.
Thought Leader
Project / Initiative
Leader
Learning &
Emotional Intelligence
Creative
Solutions
Provider
Practice
Leader
Trusted
Adviser
Client Team
Leader
STAR Professionals: a new model for success in professional services
In reality the model implies a progression starting at the core with passion and purpose, acquiring some
essential skills, becoming competent in three dimensions, before finally becoming excellent in one of six
roles which will provide a route to success. However, for the sake of explanation, let’s start with the 3
dimensions.
© Phil Gott – March 2006
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A new 3-dimensional model for managing talent in Professional Service Firms
Three role dimensions
Three role dimensions:
The various roles expected of professionals are varied and broad.
Professionals are expected to bring in clients, deliver services to
those clients (and in the process bill huge numbers of hours),
manage client service teams, take on part of the responsibility for
managing the firm, perhaps by spearheading some initiative or
leading a practice group, and stay at the forefront of their chosen
discipline.
There are perhaps three principal dimensions to these roles:
 Client development
 Leadership
 Pioneering



client development: making contacts, bringing in new
clients, building client relationships, and delivering excellent
service
leadership: attracting talented people, building a high
performance team, getting the best from people, and
developing an inspiring vision
pioneering: developing new ideas for services, to solve
unique client problems or for projects and initiatives, and
winning support for those ideas.
To succeed, professionals certainly need to be good in all of these
dimensions. Yet being good is not enough to guarantee success. To
be successful, professionals need to be excellent in at least one of
these dimensions. Yet it is unrealistic to expect them to be
excellent at all three. (Indeed, some of the attributes required in
these roles may even conflict with each other.)
Excellence in one or two of these dimensions therefore offers six
professional roles (depicted by the points on the STAR
Professionals Model) through which professionals might hope to
become successful.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Six professional roles
Those excellent in client development might become “Trusted Advisers” to clients; outstanding at
winning the trust of clients and potential clients, bringing in new work and building deep relationships.
Indeed, they may seem closer to their clients than to their own firms.
The Trusted Adviser’s clients see him as part of their inner circle, consulting him on important matters
even outside his area of expertise. He probably socialises with clients and their families, not as a cheap
way to get new business, but because there is an underlying bond of professional friendship. He gives
excellent perceived value to his clients and they reward him in return, not only financially but with their
loyalty. He is likely to gain much of his new business through referrals from his existing followership of
clients.
Under the old model the aspirant Trusted Adviser might find himself under unwholesome pressure to
account for every hour and so put profiteering before clients’ interests. Yet under the new 3-dimensional
model those seeking to become Trusted Advisers will be given time to develop deep client relationships
that, it is recognised, will generate considerable value in the longer term.
Under the old model the successful Trusted Adviser might be unwisely “promoted” into leading a practice
group, giving him a responsibility he neither wants nor is good at, and leaving less time for clients. Under
the new model he would be recognised and rewarded for his client development strengths, which he
would be encouraged to hone yet further.
© Phil Gott – March 2006
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A new 3-dimensional model for managing talent in Professional Service Firms
_________________________________________________
Those excellent in leadership might become “Practice Leaders” running a practice group or office; using
their well developed leadership skills to bring out the best in their team and focusing their team’s energies
to achieve outstanding results. They put the interests of their team to the fore.
All professionals need to have a good level of competence in leadership skills because at some stage in
their careers they are likely to have some leadership responsibility. Even if they do not take on a specific
leadership role they should be exercising leadership skills to advance the goals of their team or
organisation.
For those seeking to use a leadership role to achieve success, mere competence is not enough. Nothing
less than excellence will do. Leaders will need to master the skills and techniques of leadership and
consistently put them into practice.
Under the old career model, many Practice Leaders were appointed to their role not because of any
outstanding leadership qualities, but because of success in a different role (such as winning new
business). Presumably it was thought that their success would rub off on members of their team. Their
leadership responsibilities were to be squeezed in alongside the more important fee-earning role on which
they were largely judged and rewarded.
Under the 3-dimensional model, the dimension of leadership will be recognised, developed and rewarded.
Practice Leaders will be given ample time to properly fulfil their leadership role, which will be seen as
more important than any individual client responsibilities they might have.
Leadership positions will not be seen as a natural career progression for those who are good all-rounders,
but as a career route for those who are willing and able to become excellent at leadership. These new
leaders will be judged and rewarded not on their individual contributions, but on the contribution of the
teams they lead.
_________________________________________________
Those excellent in pioneering might rise to become “Thought Leaders”; pushing back the frontiers of
knowledge and breaking new ground for others to follow. Building on an in-depth understanding of their
field, they take great delight in manipulating arcane concepts, playing with ideas, and searching out new
possibilities.
True Thought Leaders are not back room people though. They network with others who share their
interests and they are well known and widely respected for their expertise. They are likely to have
“written the book”, to be regular contributors of articles to journals, to publish a weblog, and may well be
in demand on the conference circuit.
Though they certainly become absorbed in their chosen area of specialism, this role goes well beyond just
being a specialist.
Under the old model, thought leadership activities such as writing and speaking might be viewed by highearning colleagues as a diversion from fee-generating work. Under the new 3-dimensional model,
pioneering will be valued and thought leaders will be judged on their ideas and the recognition they
attract.
© Phil Gott – March 2006
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A new 3-dimensional model for managing talent in Professional Service Firms
Chapter 4 – Combining excellence in two
dimensions
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Combining excellence in two dimensions
Between each of these pure roles is a role that combines two of the excellence dimensions.
“Project Leaders” who are leading a project or new initiative in a
firm should have a high standard in both pioneering and leadership.
A Project Leader might have an ongoing role as marketing partner,
training partner, industry sector leader, etc. or might be appointed to
see a defined project through to completion. In the right hands,
projects can provide a powerful vehicle for ambitious professionals to
advance and might provide a useful stepping stone for those wishing
to become a practice leader.
Under the old model, the part-time project leading role took very
much of a back seat to client serving. Under the 3-dimensional
model, projects will be seen as an ideal way to carryout some
functions that would historically have been carried out by line
managers. Project Leaders will be allocated time to carryout their
responsibilities and they will be expected to deliver results.
“Creative Solutions Providers” who work on high value
projects for clients to develop innovative solutions should have a
high standard in both client service and pioneering. They are
likely to be highly specialised and share with Thought Leaders an
absorbing interest in their field. However, whereas Thought
Leaders take delight in intellectualising for its own sake, the
focus of the Creative Solutions Provider is very much on solving
challenging practical client problems.
Under the old model, there was little distinction drawn between
regular client services and the extra value that Creative Solutions
Providers can generate. Under the new model, Creative Solutions
Providers will be judged using new metrics that measure the
value they contribute, recognising that ideas cannot be measured
in terms of the billable hours taken to generate them.
“Client Service Team Leaders” who through their client service
teams provide excellent service for clients require a high standard in
both client service and leadership. Whereas Trusted Advisers are
largely outward-facing and very close to clients, Client Service Team
Leaders see their role as to orchestrate the full resources of their
organisation for the benefit of the client.
Under the old model, there was little recognition of the dual role
(client development and leadership) that Client Service Team
Leaders fulfil and the skills they need to do so. Under the new model
it is possible to distinguish between the Client Service Team Leader
who will readily open doors for members of their organisation to
establish direct relationships with clients, and the lone-wolf trusted
adviser who views client relationships very personally. Each
approach has its strengths and can be allocated to client
assignments accordingly.
© Phil Gott – March 2006
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A new 3-dimensional model for managing talent in Professional Service Firms
Chapter 5 – Essential skills
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Essential skills
Whichever of these six roles a professional chooses to
pursue there will be some essential skills or qualities they
will also need to develop. These are represented by the
outer core in the STAR professionals model. Two of these
are:


a commitment to learning: because the world of
professional services is ever-changing, what an
individual is likely to find themselves doing at the end of
their career will be very different from what they are
doing now. So throughout their career they will have to
keep re-equipping themselves with new knowledge, new
skills and a fresh outlook. Learning could be the most
important skill of all.
emotional intelligence: because all significant roles in
professional services will require good skills of
communication, influence and relationship building.
These skills can be learned. Indeed, they can only be
learned.
“A commitment to
learning”
“Emotional intelligence”
These are just two essential qualities. There may be more;
perhaps technical expertise and professional integrity should
be recognised within this new model. The point is, there will
be some essential qualities that all professionals, regardless
of their role, must develop.
Thought Leader
Project / Initiative
Leader
Learning &
Emotional Intelligence
Creative
Solutions
Provider
Practice
Leader
Trusted
Adviser
Client Team
Leader
© Phil Gott – March 2006
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A new 3-dimensional model for managing talent in Professional Service Firms
Chapter 6 – Motivating through a sense of
purpose
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Motivating through a sense of purpose
Moving further to the centre of the model we come to the heart. To be
successful a professional needs to be highly motivated because they will
have to push themselves to the very limits of their capability, with total
commitment and focus. They can really only do this if they have a
passion for their work.
‘Help
professional
people to find
and follow
their heart’
Passion is a word many people find out of place in a business setting.
This is a reflection not of the misuse of the word but of what business
has come to mean. And the professions can be amongst the worst in
extracting all emotion from work, which has all too frequently become a
clinical process bereft of real enjoyment.
So helping professional people to find and follow their heart (ie set and
accomplish their career goals) is essential to give them the energy and
motivation to keep going. Firms should help their people to do this by
offering coaching and career mapping services. This has become
commonplace as a sweetener for “outplacement” but the need has
mainly been overlooked for the much more important “inplacement”.
_______________________________________________________________
© Phil Gott – March 2006
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A new 3-dimensional model for managing talent in Professional Service Firms
Chapter 7 – Practical implications
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Practical implications
So what does this all mean in practical terms? What will firms need to do to make this new approach to
talent management a reality? There are probably 3 main areas for attention:
Introducing career mapping and job sculpting: Professional
people will need coaching to help them map their careers. Those
providing the coaching should be outside the normal chain of
command and should be skilled in the coaching process. The aim
should be to put individual professionals in the driving seat of their
own careers. This in itself can be very empowering and as most
professionals will never have experienced coaching of this kind
before it can be very motivational.
At the same time, the more rigid career ladders of old need to give
way to more effective “job sculpting” in which flexible roles are
defined to fit the needs of the firm and those of the professionals
available. There should be as many career paths as there are people.
________________________________________
Re-focusing training and development: Training and
coaching need to be aligned to the needs of each
professional, equipping them to perform to an excellent level.
This means moving away from the wasteful approach of
sheep dipping people through training, not because they
necessarily need it, but because they are at a certain stage in
their careers.
Furthermore, training needs to build on existing strengths,
which is where the greatest potential for improvement usually
lies. Too much training is wastefully aimed at overcoming
weaknesses, which stems from the old mindset of developing
the well-rounded professional.
________________________________________
Introducing new metrics to support performance selfmanagement: Putting systems in place to track performance will
help individuals manage their own performance, and the best form of
performance management is self-management. This helps ensure
that people understand what is expected of them, are committed to
achieving it, and seek feedback, guidance and support to help them
do so. Performance management systems that remove responsibility
from individuals are bound to be less effective.
New performance metrics should be introduced to track not only
financial performance but also such aspects of performance as client
satisfaction (using client service feedback for example), marketing
and business development (looking not just at new business wins,
but at each stage of the business development funnel), leadership
(using 360o surveys and looking at whole-team performance).
________________________________________
© Phil Gott – March 2006
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A new 3-dimensional model for managing talent in Professional Service Firms
Chapter 8 – Making a start
______________________________________________________________________________________________
‘The best way to
effect change is
rarely through
grand firm-wide
initiatives’
Making a start
The ways in which talent is managed in professional service firms
must change and sooner or later it will, as firms start to
acknowledge the significant benefits they could reap by changing.
But this need not require wholesale change. The best way to effect
change is rarely through grand firm-wide initiatives, which too often
fizzle out through lack of real commitment.
Instead it is best to take smaller but still significant steps, with pilot
schemes from which an approach can evolve that is right for the
firm. Different firms will choose to start in different places to suit
their priorities.
Yet firms don’t change themselves; people change them. Here are
four small but significant steps any partner or professional can take
to kick-start the overdue change process in their firm:

use the STAR professionals model to think about your own
career and where you would like it to take you, and refer to it
in your next performance review or career discussion

use the model as the basis for a career discussion with each
of the professionals who report to you

send this white paper to your head of HR and offer to join a
project team to develop recommendations

circulate this paper to your partners and encourage a debate
at the next partners meeting or conference.
© Phil Gott – March 2006
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A new 3-dimensional model for managing talent in Professional Service Firms
Chapter 9 – Your views
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Phil Gott is a conference speaker, trainer and consultant, specialising in people and performance in
professional service firms. His clients include international and “magic circle” law firms, top 10
accountancy firms, and several mid-sized firms.
Phil is author of Managing People in a Law Firm in what The Law Society describes as “a bible on
management issues for law firms”. His book “STAR Professionals: A Field Guide to Surviving and
Succeeding in Tomorrow’s Professional Services Market” will be published soon.
Phil is a founder member of the Professional Speakers Association and was recently voted Trainer of the
Year by LETG, a network of 140 law firms.
Phil’s focus on people and performance rests on a solid grounding in business formed through business
school and his early career as a chartered accountant. Before forming his own consultancy, Peopleism,
Phil was UK Head of general practice marketing and Head of Business Training for one of the major
accountancy firms.
Your views
This white paper has been written as a catalyst for discussion and change. I would welcome your feedback
and views. I would particularly like to hear any examples of firms that are taking positive initiatives in
managing and developing their professionals. And I would be interested to share your challenges and offer
advice where I can.
Please e-mail me or post your comments on the ‘White paper’ forum on my website at www.philgott.com
Phil Gott
philgott@peopleism.co.uk
www.philgott.com
+44 (0)1908 551285
© Phil Gott – March 2006
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A new 3-dimensional model for managing talent in Professional Service Firms
Chapter 10 – Postscript
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Postscript
Stella is a successful partner in a major law firm. She has developed an excellent reputation for winning
and developing clients and has been one of the firm’s highest billing partners. In recognition of this her
promotion to head the firm’s corporate department was widely seen as a logical next step, and it was felt
by many that the department would benefit from Stella’s drive and uncompromising standards….
However, the firm is aware that Stella’s skills and interests lay not in leading a department but in client
development. Indeed, Stella had only recently outlined her ambitious plans to develop some major new
client opportunities. The position is therefore offered to a partner who has already demonstrated excellent
skills in leading several projects and has expressed a keen interest in some day leading a department. He
is offered further leadership coaching to support him in his new role.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Amy, a senior manager in an accountancy firm, is known to be an excellent people manager with a loyal
staff following. However, because her business development skills are felt to be lacking she is not seen as
suitable for admission to the partnership as a client relationship partner….
More appropriately, Amy is welcomed into the partnership with responsibility for leading a major change
project. It is expected that this will further develop her leadership skills with a view to progressing into
leading one of the firm’s offices or departments.
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Spike is a management consultant who is seen as having flair, creativity and occasional brilliance.
However, it is felt that his sometimes off-the-wall style makes him unsuitable to lead a client team and he
is not offered the natural promotion to team leader….
Instead, Spike is invited to develop and use his talents by becoming a senior project consultant. He will
join several project teams with a brief to introduce fresh thinking and ensure innovation. Spike is excited
by this and sees it as an opportunity to progress towards his goal of becoming recognised as a leading
thinker in his field.
© Phil Gott – March 2006
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