Groundbreaking Research: What Partners Do That Non-Partners Don’t (Part 1)

By Juliet Aiken, Lori Berman, and Heather Bock –

In our last post, we covered the importance of becoming a master of fate for your health, flourishing, and promotion to partner. While being in control and strategically investing in your career will help you thrive in all three measures of success, they aren’t the only attributes that matter. Today, we are going to focus on two other attributes that differentiate partners and non-partners in our research on AmLaw 200 attorneys. Partners are not only masters of their fate; partners also calibrate in a way that non-partners may not.

Calibration – the process of comparing and adjusting measurements to a specified standard – encompasses both being planful and seeking feedback. Partners not only tend to make plans more frequently, but they also stick more tightly to plans than non-partners. More than half of the partners we surveyed said they stick to plans, compared to only 37% of the attorneys who had not made partner after 10 or more years at their firm. Of course, neither partners nor non-partners stick to plans all the time. Flexibility is also critical for success!

Planning alone does not a calibrator make. Calibrators need to compare their measurements to something; in the case of a law firm lawyer, feedback from others provides a ruler against which calibrators can compare their plans, actions, and outcomes. So it shouldn’t be surprising that partners who were promoted ahead of the pack actively sought out constructive feedback. These attorneys were not afraid to hold up a mirror and find out their flaws, and most importantly, how to improve in those areas.

Your journey to calibration can begin today. It’s as easy as . . .

1. Draw a map
   1. How can you possibly get somewhere when you haven’t decided on a destination? Your first step is to figure out your goal or objective. Make sure to make it specific, attainable, and challenging. Once you have your objective, you can map out what routes might take you there. This goes both for planning for your career and planning how to tackle your day-to-day tasks.
   2. Plan for flexibility. Even the best made plans rarely survive the first encounter. Pad your plan with extra time (unexpected requests and hurdles are bound to come up) and stay on track by thinking ahead to potential pitfalls you might face and, of course, new paths around them.

2. Let’s talk
   1. Feedback doesn’t come to those who wait. Get proactive. Ask the people you work with for targeted feedback. Narrow down the scope to facilitate the process. Instead of asking “how was my memo?” ask about a specific part of the memo that you were concerned about. By honing their attention in to relevant issues, you can get better feedback faster.
   2. The best offense is no defense. If you ask for critical feedback, respond graciously. Thank the person who gave you feedback for their time. Don’t defend yourself, your behaviors, or your work product. No one giving feedback wants to get in an argument. If you are truly open to critical feedback and clearly do not take it personally, you are more likely to continue getting feedback throughout your career.

In our study, partners were differentiated from associates not only in being masters of their fate, but also in their ability and desire to calibrate. But, we’re not done yet – one other characteristic differentiates partners from non-partners. Stay tuned for our next post when we’ll finish up our discussion of what predicted partnership in our research next.

Blog Authors

Juliet Aiken is the Deputy Director and Research Director at the Center for the Study of the Legal Profession at Georgetown Law and the founder of Statistics in Practice LLC.

Lori Berman is the Director of Professional Development at Hogan Lovells US LLP and an Adjunct Professor and Research Affiliate at the Georgetown Law Center for the Study of the Legal Profession.

Heather Bock is the Chief Professional Development Officer at Hogan Lovells US LLP and the Executive Director and a Visiting Professor at Georgetown Law Center for the Study of the Legal Profession.