10 Questions - Jonathan Rigby: 'My lessons from leading an offshore law firm'

Jonathan Rigby, who has served as managing partner of offshore law firm Mourant Ozannes since 2007, oversaw the merger which created the firm in 2010. In the two years that followed, he was heavily involved in establishing new offices in Hong Kong and the BVI. This year, he's been focusing his efforts on developing
a new ancillary business and two new
client-facing programmes.

His position as managing partner is not secure, however. Rigby undergoes regular 360-degree performance reviews from the partnership as well as re-election processes every four years, with his current term ending in December 2016. He tells Managing Partner that a thick skin, patience, a positive outlook and a sense of optimism have been key to his survival in the role.

1. What have been your firm's biggest achievements over the
past three years?

I think strategic clarity - with focus right at the heart of that strategy - is probably our biggest achievement over the past three years. It gives us a sense of common purpose and cohesion that is incredibly powerful. Increasingly for us, I think that
is a differentiator in its own right.

In 2010, shortly after the merger that created Mourant Ozannes, we sat down
as a group of partners and the first thing that we did was to work out how we wanted
to conduct ourselves as a partnership. That led to the creation of a set of core values which lie at the heart of the firm, which
we have embedded within our performance management and recruitment processes. We try and embed them into everything
that we do.

One of those values is to operate
on a truly 'one firm' basis. To give you an example of that in action, we are the only large offshore law firm that is an all-equity partnership - we don't have any salaried partners. The firm's strategy is developed in consultation with all the partners and ultimately put to the partners for approval. Amongst the offshore law firms, we are the largest partnership by equity partner numbers by a considerable margin.

Until recently, we had a split between junior and senior equity partners. I spent last year working with the partners to refine our equity structure and that resulted in our abolishing the distinction between junior and senior equity partners.

We put being one firm at the heart of our strategy. As an offshore law firm, we're in six locations; four of those are locations that compete for business against one another, which I think is a particular feature of the offshore market. So we believe it's particularly important to have a single profit pool, where all the partners' interests are aligned. We have a modified lockstep, but the management committee has the power to adjust a partner's position on the points ladder, depending on performance and contribution. Partners are rewarded across
a broad section of measures.

2. What are your firm's biggest strategic priorities for the next
three years?

First and foremost it is to create a world-class business operations function, which performs an advisory as well as transactional role. I think law firms have been very slow in recognising that this, in and of itself, can deliver a massive competitive advantage. This focus on operations is entirely consistent with our one-firm approach. One firm for us doesn't just mean one firm across jurisdictions and practice groups; it also means one firm between fee earning and non-fee
earning staff.

The second is a focus on investing in knowledge and know-how, which we see
as a subset of the first. We regard that this as critical to our future success. We recently recruited the former head of knowledge and learning from Irwin Mitchell to spearhead that initiative for us.

The final strategic priority is developing our new ancillary corporate-services business. It's what our clients are telling
us they want. The growth of the business is exceeding our expectations. So, keeping up with that demand and investing in it is going to be a key priority.

3. What are your priorities as managing partner in the
coming year?

My first priority is to spend far more time talking to clients. We've been through an awful lot of structural change since the 2010 merger that created our firm. We recognise the need to get out there and spend more time talking to clients. I plan to do that in two key ways: through a new key client intermediary programme, (which I am personally sponsoring and will be very heavily involved with) and a formal client feedback programme (which I will be leading, together with our senior partner).

My second priority is managing our new corporate services business, which presents different challenges and demands to managing a well-established law firm. You need a different governance structure, different types of people leading and managing the business, different systems and different processes. It's also regulated in a different way. So it brings a whole
host of new challenges.

As managing partner of the law firm,
I will continue to focus on partner welfare. We place greater and greater demands on our partners as producer managers; we expect them to do a fantastic job with clients and we expect them to get heavily involved in client relationship management, in winning new clients, in winning new work, in delivering cutting-edge knowledge and know-how, and in managing teams.

This might mean putting in place better systems or buying new technology. But equally, it could be something very simple like encouraging partners to take a break without their Blackberry; encouraging partners to have certain time ringfenced every day which is not work time - whether that's going to the gym, or time spent with family and friends, whatever it may be.
I think that if they're better supported in taking time out and have better technology to do their job, it will be reflected in the service their clients receive.

I certainly find that having certain time protected within a given working week is very helpful. I have a personal trainer and I work out twice a week, and that is time when I know that I can be thinking about something other than work.

4. In which areas does your firm intend to invest in the coming year?

Aside from the investment in the key client intermediary programme and the client feedback programme, one of the major areas of investment is going to be career development for our fee earners. Earlier this year, I sat down in small groups with
all of our fee earners across our offices
and we talked about what we can do to better manage their careers as lawyers at
Mourant Ozannes.

And the conversation covered broadly four topics. Do we have the right career structure? And if not, what are the changes that our lawyers would like to see? We talked about what we can do to improve performance management. We talked about how we can enhance our learning and development programme to underpin career progression on the new career ladder. And then we talked about how better to align the rewards in terms of salary and benefits and bonus with that new career structure.

I think that's one of the biggest investments that we're making during the course of this year. And allied to that will be exploring things like alternative career paths, diversity and, broadly, how we help people to achieve their aspirations - we regard that as absolutely pivotal to our future success.

One of the biggest challenges for us at the moment is recruitment, as market conditions have improved. We find that getting good people in quickly enough
to satisfy our current business demands
is very challenging.

5. Which activities take up most
of your time each week?

Without a shadow of a doubt, day-to-day management, which is not the activity that should be taking up most of my time each week. I'm very fortunate in some ways that I'm not required to do client work. When I took over as managing partner in 2007, the firm was going through a period of significant change, and that meant
I needed to hand over my practice very quickly. So, I haven't done any client work since I took over as managing partner.

I expect, like many managing partners, the challenge for me is how to spend less time on day-to-day management and more time on long-term strategic planning, brand building and talking to our clients. That's
a constant challenge, but it's something I'm acutely aware of and continue to work on.

6. Which books on management and leadership would you recommend to a friend?

I've read very few management and leadership books, I have to confess. It's
not because I don't believe in the genre,
I just struggle to find the time! I do, however, attend a number leadership conferences and courses.

One very short book which someone recommended to me, Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr Spencer Johnson, is well worth the read - it's about making sure
you look to the future.

7. What do you think are the most important personal attributes of
a managing partner?

I think first and foremost, a positive attitude. You have to believe that you can solve the many different and varied problems that hit your desk every day as managing partner. And the minute you stop believing that you can solve problems, the job probably will get on top of you.

I think integrity is hugely important
for obvious reasons. Also patience - more so than if you were managing a corporate enterprise. It's essential to be able to carry the partners with you and to build consensus. I'd also say a thick skin helps. And enthusiasm - if you can project infectious enthusiasm, so much the better!

8. How would you describe your leadership style?

I have been described as a 'ferocious consensus builder' - I think that that's probably the best description I've heard of my leadership style. I do work very, very hard at building consensus and I think that is particularly important in managing professional services firms and law firms in particular. So that would be my default leadership style.

In practice, that means an awful lot of my time is invested in seeking views, creating opportunities for discussion and debate, and listening - I think it's absolutely critical. I think the knack then is to be able to mould those often very different views into a clear sense of direction and momentum. It involves knowing the point
at which to say 'right, the time for debate and discussion is over, we've all had our say, now we've got to turn that into a decision and into actions and move on'. And that requires patience, time, a positive outlook and a sense of optimism.

9. What are the biggest leadership lessons you have learnt over
the years?

I think you can't overdo communication - it is absolutely critical. Never stop communicating your vision and
your strategy.

Heading towards problems and dealing with them head on is also very important.

By the same token, you've got to know which battles are worth taking on. There are problems which, if left alone, will resolve themselves very satisfactorily, just by allowing some time and space. You need to know which problems you, as managing partner, need to get involved in, and then you should tackle them head on.

The final leadership lesson is the point
I covered earlier, which is that leadership
is really about 'followership'. Whether you are a leader or not is really measured by the degree to others are prepared to
follow you.

10. Which title would you give
to a biography of your life?

A Glass Half Full is probably the title
I would give. I think most people who know me well, both professionally and outside of work, would understand that. It's not something I necessarily always recognise in myself, but I do have a tendency to be very positive and to see the positive in everything, to the point where partners and friends will poke fun at me for that!

Manju Manglani is editor of Managing Partner (www.managingpartner.com)