There’s a question I love to ask the managing partners I work with—one that cuts through the noise and goes straight to the heart of the matter:
What would break or be missed in your law firm if you were truly gone for 30 days?
Not “working remotely” from a vacation house. Not checking email at the beach. I mean gone. No email. No texts. No calls. No Slack pings. Nothing.
Would it be a few operational hiccups? A client matter dropped? A full-blown fire?
If that question makes your chest tighten or your brain start firing with contingency plans, good. That’s the work. That’s the point. That’s the opportunity. Because the real answer to that question tells you exactly what still lives in the gap between how you lead your firm today and how you must lead your firm if you want it to grow beyond you. It gives you the path for the work that must be done if your law firm is to grow beyond you.
You’re Not “Just” a Lawyer Anymore.
The day you became managing partner, whether by election or default, not only did your _role_ change, your _job_ changed too. But if you’re like most of the law firm leaders I coach, your _work_ didn’t change right away. You’re still the best lawyer in the firm. You’re still the top biller. You’re still the final decision maker on damn near everything.
Here’s the challenge: The behaviors that created your practice’s and your firm’s success are the same ones that will ultimately limit its future.
That may be hard to hear. You’ve achieved a level of success by behaving how you behaved. You got where you are by doing. By grinding. By wearing your billables like a badge of honor. And it’s tempting to believe the next level is just more of the same—more hustle, more hours, more output.
It’s not.
The next level requires you to redesign your role entirely.
And no one else can do it but you.
From Leading by Default to Leading by Design.
There are two types of leadership: default and design.
Default leadership is reactionary. It’s what happens when you build a law firm, grow the team, and keep doing what’s always worked—until you hit a wall.
Design is intentional. It’s strategic. It’s uncomfortable. It’s the work of stepping back, looking in the mirror, and saying: “What do I really want my role to be here?” Not what the firm needs. Not what the clients expect. What you want. No shame. No hesitation. No “shoulds.”
Here’s the truth: your law firm will only scale to the extent that your identity does.
Let that sink in.
If your identity is still wrapped up in being the best lawyer in the room, the one who rescues cases or writes the killer motion, then your firm is stuck.
Your firm is waiting on you to step fully into the role of CEO—not just in title, but in mindset and execution.
The Role Redesign Filter
This is the framework I use with managing partners all over the world—from 5-lawyer boutiques to 50-lawyer powerhouses. I call it the Role Redesign Filter™, and it comes down to three buckets:
1. Keep Doing
This is the “Only You” zone. Vision. Strategy. Culture. Business development. Big-lever client matters that only you can handle at a CEO level.
Ask yourself: What are the highest-value tasks in the firm that require my brain, my presence, and my leadership?
Do those. Only those.
And if you’re still billing 150+ hours a month while trying to shape vision and lead the team? We’ve got work to do. Because being both top biller and strategic leader isn’t sustainable. It’s a bottleneck.
2. Delegate
If you don’t trust your team, you won’t delegate. And if you don’t delegate, your firm will always depend on you to move.
Delegation isn’t abdication. It’s leadership.
Train your people. Invest in your systems. Use AI or tech to eliminate repeatable tasks. Build trust. Make your clients feel like they’re hiring the firm, not just you. If you’re still handling intake or reviewing every invoice—stop.
The question isn’t can someone else do this?
It’s why am I still doing it?
3. Eliminate
Legacy habits are sneaky. They feel familiar. Comfortable. Even valuable.
But the fact that you’ve always done it that way? That’s the worst reason to keep doing it.
Eliminate anything that no longer aligns with your firm’s values or vision. The low-hanging fruit cases. The underpaying clients. The pet projects that no longer serve your highest contribution.
Make space for what matters.
The Hardest Part to Let Go Of
I often ask my clients: What’s hardest for you to let go of?
And the follow-up is always: Why?
More often than not, it’s tied to identity.
“I love the legal work.”
“I’m still the best at this part of the job.”
“This is how I built the firm.”
Totally valid. But here’s the deal: you’ve outgrown parts of your role. And clinging to them is keeping you from doing the very work you want to do at the highest level.
This isn’t about stripping away the joy or doing only what’s “strategic.” It’s about making intentional choices. It’s about being honest.
If you love doing something, great—keep it. But don’t confuse familiarity or comfort with value. And definitely don’t confuse motion with progress.
Lead at Your Highest Level
What would it look like to lead your firm at the absolute highest level? Get clear on that.
What would your calendar look like?
What would you stop doing?
What kind of decisions would you make?
And what’s the gap between where you are now and that version of you?
That’s the work.
Final Thoughts (and an Invitation)
I’m not offering a checklist. You won’t find the answer in another productivity app or time management system. This is internal work. Identity work. CEO work.
Only you can do it.
And if you’re ready to start, I’d love to walk with you.
I coach managing partners and founders who are tired of living by default and ready to lead by design. They’re the chosen few who I call Accomplished Seekers. If this message resonated, reach out. Let’s have a conversation. No pressure. No pitch. Just two leaders talking about what’s next.
Also—I’m writing a new book tentatively titled: The Art of Strategic Leadership: Elevating Your Law Firm Beyond the Ordinary. I’m building it out in the open, with a seed audience of managing partners of firms of 5 to 50 attorneys who want early access to draft chapters, live Q&As, and more. If that sounds like your kind of table, I’d love to have you pull up a chair.
Because the role of managing partner isn’t what it used to be.
And, if you do the work, neither are you.