10 Questions - Vicky Brackett: Life as managing partner

Life as managing partner is rarely what people expect when the ascend to the role. In the first of a new series of frank interviews, Managing Partner speaks with Thomas Eggar’s leader, Vicky Brackett, as her first term draws to a close.

 

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Key facts

Name: Vicky Brackett

Age: 43

Position: Managing partner

Date of appointment: 1 May 2012

Location: Crawley, UK

Firm name: Thomas Eggar LLP

Firm revenues at last financial Y/E: £41 million

Year-on-year change in revenues: 15%

Firm type: Regional

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

I think that the biggest achievement – and it’s quite interesting for me because your three-year timeframe almost coincides exactly with how long I’ve been in the job – has been the client feedback that we’ve received. We introduced our client feedback programme three years ago and it’s been consistently superb in terms of how our clients experience our service and how our values are reflected in that client experience. That same programme has helped to create the appetite for change in how we structure our business, our management and our offering to the market.

The second thing is our expansion in London and starting to achieve credibility in that market, which was assisted by a merger eighteen months ago. That has moved the firm forward in terms of its strategic goals and plans.

The third thing is the way in which we’ve managed to create a strategic team within the partnership, with a clear business strategy and working collaboratively towards defined goals. We’ve managed to get our partners working together as a team and thinking about things from a firm perspective rather than an individual perspective.

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

A big one is continued growth through focused BD and/or merger.

Another strategic priority is our
culture and values and embedding
them within our firm. There’s quite a bit
of work to do around that and making sure they’re constantly recognised in client feedback and refined.

The third one’s around our people,
and that’s supporting and nurturing the talent we’ve got in the business. It’s a tough market out there, it’s competitive, firms are keen to take our people, which
is a compliment, but it’s also a challenge.

One of the strengths of this firm is
the quality of its people but, more than that, it’s the way the people support each
other and want each other to develop and move along. I think we have put together
a really strong framework that promotes and supports that positive behaviour.

I don’t think you get it right all the time and there are always going to be cynics, but it’s around how you keep your focus on embedding those cultures and values. The end goal has to be, always, what provides the best possible service for clients in the market and, in order to do that, you need the best people.

The ‘best people’ doesn’t necessarily mean the best lawyers; it means groups of people with the mix of legal, business and people skills who can achieve the goal of making everything right for the client. So, I think if you really focus on the people who demonstrate those behaviours in everything they do and drive that client service, and less time on the minority who don’t, the results for the business become much stronger.

Continued growth is a priority and there are different ways of achieving growth: organic growth, lateral hires and merger. A merger remains a possibility for us, but we’re very clear about what the strategic goals of the business are, and that a merger would need to a) culturally
fit with us and b) tick off quite a few of those strategic goals. We’re quite strong about what we don’t want in a merger,
so it’s not ruled out, but it’s not something that we’re constantly out there looking for, we’re just getting on with it, to be honest.

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

There are three. The first is around growing the business, so I’ve been
very strategically focused on where
we’re looking to grow and making
sure that happens.

The second is making sure that the business is fit for purpose – the ways in which we work, the ways in which our teams are structured and the ways in which we use our resources. Under that heading, I put things like knowledge management, case management, secretarial structures, team structures, paper-light and environmental issues.
But that’s not a year’s job, that’s an ongoing job.

The third area is around the leadership team; making sure we demonstrate our values in our behaviour. Clients are starting to reflect back to us what we all believe our shared values as a firm are. With that comes a great deal of responsibility to ensure no one in the firm lets our side down. You have to make sure that clients see your values in everything you do
and that our people demonstrate
these, not simply claim to have them.

I think it takes a huge amount of leadership and a lot of energy to keep those values at the forefront of organisation’s minds. The plus side of that is it makes people more engaged, they understand why they’re doing things. Engaging our people through a focus
on the client experience is a very big priority for us.

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

I think in terms of technology, we’ve probably got what we need. I’d like to spend more money on training around
how we use those systems more
efficiently and to the best purpose of our business. So that means making the training absolutely right and spot on to make sure people know how to use all
of our software.

Other forms of investment will be around people development – for lawyers and non-lawyers. It’s the soft skills side, but it’s also making sure our supervision is up to scratch, there are mentors in the business, our leaders are playing the proper role in the business and people’s objectives are working. I think it’s important to ensure everyone feels supported and invested in.

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

It really depends on where I am in the year’s cycle, but on average I would say half of my time is simply relationship focused. So that might be people needing catch ups, one to ones, career chats, mentoring or supporting. Then there’s the maintaining of external relationships, so client meetings, pitch meetings and referral events. That relationship piece, which is both internal and external, is probably about half of my job.

I spend about a quarter of my time on big thinking; that’s standing back from the day-to-day and looking at the firm in its broadest sense. Our, strategy’s set, so it’s more around how you move things forward, developing big ideas, watching the market and making sure we’re up to speed with what’s going on there.

And then the last quarter is just day-to-day management. I’d much rather have more time for strategic planning and ground building, but the realities of life are that people demand a lot of your time in my role.

From an ambassadorial point of view for the firm, it’s good that I’m out in the market and I’m meeting people. There is also an internal role that you’ve got to fulfil and that’s a really important one, it’s all about that engagement and motivation and people feeling recognised and listened to. But sometimes internal stuff takes up more time than I planned, like dealing with tricky questions around people. People are the most unpredictable part of my job.

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

One I refer to most days is Aligning the Stars: How to Succeed When Professionals Drive Results, by
Jay W Lorsch and Thomas J Tierney.
It’s all about getting your people aligned to your strategy and how you engage those people.

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

For me, they are energy, drive, the ability to listen, self belief, understanding your own core values, collaboration and teamwork.
I think that, if you can work in a team, you can listen and you can really understand yourself, you’ll be a good leader.

8. How would you describe your leadership style?

Collaborative, decisive and fair. I think I am quite collaborative but, at the end of the day, I will make a decision, and that’s where I think I’m fair as well.

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

Dare to dream, prepare well and reflect back to the business the behaviours you wish to see in others all of the time. Sometimes there are values in the organisation, but they may not necessarily be my own personal values. One would hope that they’re pretty alike given I’m in the leadership team, but I think you’ve got to reflect back to the business the behaviours you’re expecting of them.

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

‘Upside Down’. This is quite personal because my little boy was born eight years ago with Down Syndrome. He turned our lives slightly upside down, but he’s also taught us quite a lot about values, what’s important in life and how to treat people with understanding, patience and tolerance. It’s probably one of the biggest things that has happened to me in my life, but it’s gone on to shape so much more going forward.

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