Raison d’être is an impressive term. It makes you stop and think for a moment about why we need a fancy way to say, “reason to be.” It’s used here to remind us of this simple truth: litigation support service businesses are essential in the administration of justice.
This industry closes the circle on the legal process, plain and simple.
The legal process demands precision and timeliness. It is the embodiment of detail oriented and leaves no room for mediocrity, so leaders and managers who helm litigation support service companies must be at the top of their game.
While leaders and managers are indispensable for these businesses to succeed, the roles are distinctly different. If you’re looking to move into one of these positions or want a framework to assess how others may stack up, let’s examine what distinguishes them.
Game of Roles
At first glance, leadership and management may seem interchangeable. While they share some responsibilities their primary focus and methods take divergent paths.
Leaders, most of all, are visionaries who inspire and guide others toward a shared goal. Think of Steve Jobs or Elon Musk, who are known for shapeshifting entire industries by evangelizing an ethos to “think different” or “ask the right questions”.
Leaders set the course, define the mission, and articulate a compelling vision of the future, which is why you won’t find them knee-deep in the weeds of daily operations. After all, Jeff Bezos didn’t catapult Amazon to success by spending his days putting out fires and taking inventory.
It’s a leader’s job to foster innovation, drive change, and nurture the company’s culture—emphasizing growth and development.
I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.
—Elon Musk
Managers, on the other hand, are tasked with implementing the leader’s vision and ensuring that day-to-day operations run smoothly. They focus on planning, organizing, and controlling resources to achieve specific objectives. Day to day, good managers concern themselves with maintaining or improving an organization’s efficiency and efficacy.
Which is not to say mid-level managers and directors cannot contribute at a higher level.
For example, managers may complement leaders by cascading the leadership team’s corporate goals into departmental ones that will contribute to the company’s overall goals. For example, if a corporate goal is to generate $25MM in annual revenue, the head of Sales or Marketing can create a revenue goal for their respective departments that will contribute to the attainment of that company goal. They will also develop strategies and plans to support the goals.
In short, managers translate the leader’s vision into action.
You can also think of managers as stewards of stability and execution. The work that managers do to optimize a business’s processes may not seem particularly glamorous, but good managers understand that their efforts are vital in mitigating risks and delivering desirable results.
5 Brand Pillars of Great Leaders and Managers
It’s easy to (mistakenly) view leaders and managers through the lens of caricatures: Managers are deskbound autocrats who speak in monotones while leaders spend their days delivering keynote speeches on luxury yachts. Reality is a different matter.
Leaders and managers who lead best of breed litigation support service businesses are much more likely to be firmly grounded, multi-dimensional personalities, who excel across five areas:
1. | Vision vs. Execution Leaders conceptualize a vision for the organization’s future, while managers translate that vision into actionable plans and oversee implementation. |
2. | Change vs. Response Leaders proactively drive change. They embrace innovation and challenge the status quo, whereas managers are more reactive. Managers adapt strategies to navigate the strategic or operational changes that leaders initiate. |
3. | Leading People vs. Managing People’s Work Leaders inspire and empower their staff, fostering a sense of purpose and ownership among individual team members. Managers place their attention primarily on coordinating tasks, allocating resources, and ensuring productivity. |
4. | Culture Creator vs. Culture Maintainer Leaders shape organizational culture through role modeling, fostering collaboration, and by promoting a positive work environment. Managers assure that workers adhere to policies and procedures that maintain consistency. |
5. | Innovation vs. Stability Leaders thrive on exploration. They continually seek new opportunities and push boundaries. In contrast, managers help ensure operational efficiency by prioritizing stability and minimizing risks. |
“Good management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them.”
—Paul Hawken
Getting the Best for Leadership Synergy
Litigation support service businesses focused on growth are also typically committed to propelling their employees into managers and their managers into leaders. The individuals who step into these roles will need to meet high standards if they are to run great companies that fully facilitate the legal process.
Good leaders, for example, will need to excel at anticipating trends and identifying opportunities. Tomorrow’s litigation support service business leaders can count on technology to continue to disrupt the industry, and they’ll need to steer the organization toward sustainable growth amid that disruption.
Leaders must also be capable diplomats who can build strategic relationships.
The top executives of these businesses must act as ambassadors who can foster partnerships with courts, law firms, and industry stakeholders. Together, these strategic relationships enhance the organization’s reputation and influence.
Managers must be capable in a different way.
Success is in the details
To keep the wheels of justice rolling smoothly, operational stability is a must, so managers need to excel at ensuring seamless day-to-day functioning. The best of them are adept at overseeing workflows, managing resources, and mitigating operational risks.
Managers are also the keepers of institutional knowledge for litigation support service businesses. They must accumulate and wield expertise in legal processes and document management, as well as uphold quality standards and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
They must also have a reliable grasp on the minutiae of local court rules, which can change frequently.
Likewise, good managers will be well-versed in jurisdictional differences, service of process, and up-to-date on deadlines and document requirements. What’s more, they should imbue the same scope of knowledge among team members.
Learning the complexities of processing, transporting, and paying for legal documents is not learned overnight. New team members may need months to absorb the nuances of this highly-detailed work, which means staff turnover can have a profound negative affect on operations.
A good manager knows how to minimize turnover, keep institutional knowledge in-house, and maintain productivity.
What Every Good Leader Must Have
Much has been written about qualities good leaders possess. Among them, “charisma” frequently is mentioned. While it’s easy to believe charisma is an imprimatur of exceptional leaders, reality says otherwise.
For example, Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, convicted of fraud in 2022 and sentenced to more than 11 years in prison, illustrates how charisma can overpromise and underdeliver. Lehman Brothers’ CEO Dick Fuld, who presided over the investment bank’s 2008 collapse, likewise shows how poorly charisma performs against other personal shortcomings.
If not charisma, what are the sure signs of a great leader?
There are five major qualities that may or may not come naturally to most individuals. Make no mistake, however, they may be cultivated over time by anyone who wants to be a top performer:
- Decisiveness: Leaders must make difficult decisions quickly to keep the business agile and responsive. These decisions may be informed partly by data and analysis, and partly by intuition.
- Resilience: Changing markets and rapidly evolving technology are also virtually guarantee difficulties lie ahead. Good leaders don’t avoid challenging times. Instead, they demonstrate their resilience to their team members, preserve optimism, and set a new course.
- Communication: Open, transparent communication fosters trust, alignment, and collaboration among team members. Likewise, leaders who communicate effectively will engender confidence among clients and other stakeholders.
- Focus: Prioritizing goals and initiatives enable leaders to allocate resources effectively and drive progress toward strategic objectives.
- Transparency: Being transparent about goals, challenges, and decision-making processes fosters accountability and builds credibility among employees and stakeholders.
Partnership of Trailblazers and Stewards
The success of a litigation support service provider hinges on the synergistic interplay between visionary leadership and effective management.
By recognizing the distinct roles and responsibilities of leaders and managers, organizations can leverage their complementary strengths to navigate uncertainty, drive innovation, and achieve sustainable growth in a landscape where change is the only constant.
Great leaders need great tools
Lead your litigation support business to success. LegalConnect delivers service providers a comprehensive software solution to run and grow their business, from managing customers, orders, documents, and vendors, to billing and reporting, plus much more. It not only supports the work of your managers and staff, but it will also be the gamechanger to propel your company to new heights. Call us today to request a demo or speak to a LegalConnect professional to find out how we can help you get or stay on top.