Podcast Ep. 27: The Importance of Influence in Law Firms

You might be a junior associate, a senior associate, counsel or a junior partner. Whatever your position, you may sometimes feel that you have very little influence over what happens in your firm.

Perhaps you have ideas about how your team could work better together. Perhaps you would like to develop a new practice area, bring in more clients or have more influence over the decisions being made about your career.

And perhaps you feel that, however good your ideas are, you are not necessarily the person people listen to.

So how can you have more influence, particularly when you are not one of the firm's biggest rainmakers?

In this article, I want to look at how you can build your influence by understanding the people around you, building relationships and learning to communicate in ways that resonate with others.

Because this is not about changing who you are. It is about expanding who you are.

Who really has influence in your firm?

In law firms, there are formal power structures, but there are also informal ones. And often, the people with the most influence are those who bring in the most business and control the client relationships.

You cannot simply tell people what to do and expect them to agree with you. You can explain what you are going to do and hope that people will come on board.

So, if you are not the rainmaker, how can you increase your influence?

The first step is to build relationships proactively within your firm.

Start by building relationships

I know that relationship building can feel like time taken away from client work. When you are busy, it can be difficult to justify spending time getting to know people.

But building relationships is absolutely critical, both for your career and for your ability to influence what happens around you.

Start by thinking about who the key stakeholders are in your team, your department and your firm.

Who holds formal power? More importantly, who holds informal power? Who matters most to you and your career, even if they are not necessarily the most senior people in the firm?

And remember that influence is not only about building relationships upwards. Your peers and the people in your team matter too.

Your key stakeholders will change over time, and they will not be the same for everyone. If you are a junior lawyer in a large international firm, for example, you probably do not need to start by building a relationship with the managing partner. You might be better off starting with the people in your department and the departments you work with regularly.

The important thing is to be intentional about the relationships you want to build.

Learn to connect with people who are different from you

Once you have identified the people you want to build relationships with, start paying attention to how they think and communicate.

Are they driven by logic and data, or do they make decisions based more on relationships? Are they big picture thinkers, or do they want to understand every detail? What matters to them? What problems are they trying to solve? What are their priorities and values?

The more you understand another person's perspective, the better equipped you will be to work with them.

Of course, we naturally tend to spend time with people we like. And it is usually easier to get on with people who think in similar ways to us.

But if you want to build influence, you need to learn to get on with a wider range of people.

You might be thinking, “I don't want to change who I am.”

And I completely understand that. But this is not about changing who you are. It is about expanding who you are.

It is about learning to communicate in different ways, becoming more comfortable with people who see the world differently and understanding that your way of doing things is not necessarily the only way.

Think about it this way. Wouldn't you rather work in a firm where people make an effort to understand each other, where they try to break down silos and where they look for ways to work together more effectively?

That is what building influence can help you achieve.

Build trust before you need to influence someone

Influence is built on trust. People need to know, like and trust you, and there are several ways you can build that trust.

You can be reliable. You can deliver your work on time, keep things confidential and do what you say you are going to do.

You can also be of service to others. For example, younger lawyers often have a wider network across the firm and may know things that more senior lawyers do not. Sharing useful information and helping others understand what is happening around them can be a valuable way of building relationships.

Trust can also develop when we allow ourselves to be a little vulnerable. That does not mean revealing all your secrets in a professional context. It might simply mean admitting that you made a mistake and showing that you are willing to learn from it.

When people know that you approach them with respect and goodwill, difficult conversations become much easier.

And this is particularly important when you need to influence a decision.

Use what you know when you need to have a difficult conversation

Imagine that you have an issue you need to discuss with a partner. Perhaps you want to put forward a new idea, ask for funding to attend a conference or have a conversation about your partnership bid.

You have already done the groundwork. You have built a relationship with that person and have a better understanding of how they think.

Now you can use that knowledge to approach the conversation differently.

If they are driven by data, bring the figures and research to support your argument. If they value relationships, you might want to have the conversation over coffee or lunch. If they are particularly focused on efficiency, make sure you have your arguments prepared and get to the point quickly.

But do not stop at thinking about their communication style. Think about what matters to them in this particular situation.

What do they need? What are they trying to achieve? What problems are they dealing with? And where do your objectives overlap?

If you can find a way to address their concerns while also achieving what you need, you are much more likely to get a positive response.

This is where understanding other people can make a real difference to your influence. You are not simply presenting your own argument and hoping that it will resonate. You are approaching the conversation from a position of understanding.

And that can dramatically increase your chances of being heard.

You are not compromising your values or pretending to be someone else. You are making a conscious effort to understand the other person and communicate in a way that works for both of you.

Your influence can grow

Just because you do not have much influence today does not mean that you cannot develop it over time.

You do not have to be the biggest rainmaker in your firm to have ideas that matter. And you do not have to wait until you become a partner to start building relationships and influencing the people around you.

So here is a simple exercise to try.

First, write down the three people who matter most to you at work. It might be the partner you work for, someone in another department or a colleague with whom you find it difficult to work.

Then, write down one thing that each of those people really cares about.

Over the next few days and weeks, pay attention to how understanding their priorities changes the way you relate to them.

You may find that you approach conversations differently, that you spot opportunities to help them or that you find it easier to raise issues that previously felt difficult.

The point is not to manipulate people into doing what you want. It is to build better working relationships, understand different perspectives and find ways to work together more effectively.

You do not have to change who you are to build influence. You can expand how you connect with others, and in doing so, increase your ability to make your voice heard and turn your ideas into action.