You want to challenge people to get them to raise their game, as opposed to criticizing them, which makes them raise their defenses.

William D. Green, chairman and C.E.O. of Accenture, as interviewed by the New York Times, November 22, 2009.

Mr. Green makes a good point, one that also has valuable implications for managing legal risk and legal costs. 

According to Green, caring is one of the most important traits a business leader can possess.  ”Nothing today is about one individual,” he says. “[It's] all about the team, and in the end, this is about giving a damn about your customers, your company, the people around you, and recognizing that the people around you are the ones who make you look good.”

It therefore helps to remember that when employees raise an issue or identify a concern, they are trying to help you and the company.  They do it because they care and want to do a good job for you.

On the other hand, employees whose defenses are raised typically don’t voice issues or concerns.  Their top priority is making sure they don’t get blamed for problems, not helping to avoid them.  As a result the flow of meaningful information is choked and problems, including legal issues, surface only when they’re too big to hide. 

Listening and caring lets you make small course corrections that sidestep liability in the fraction of the time and cost it takes to make a macro course correction later.  Best of all, by raising your employees’ game you’ll also raise your company’s performance.

Copyright © 2009 Corporate M.O., LLC

I’m not good at apologies.  Are you?  Even though Jay Leno did it, more doctor’s are doing it, and Lloyd Blankfein, the chairman of Goldman Sachs almost did it.   Most of use have difficulty apologizing much beyond a quick “I’m sorry.”

Apologies are not part of the core business curriculum and in some corporate cultures it’s frowned upon as a sign of weakness.  Yet according to apology expert and best selling business author, John Kador, effective leadership is impossible without it. 

As a practical matter, a well timed apology can go a long way toward avoiding costly litigation.  It’s an important tool to include in your legal literacy arsenal. 

That’s why on May 14th at 8 pm EST (5 pm PST) on my next edition of Ask the No Nonsense Lawyer I’ll be interviewing John Kador about his exciting new book, Effective Apology: Mending Fences, Building Bridges, and Restoring Trust (Bk Business).

To register for this free teleseminar click here and submit a question you’d like to have John answer.

Actions speak louder than words.  Yet how many business leaders try to change corporate culture with policy pronouncements and mission statements while conducting business as usual?

I was reminded of that old adage today when I read Office Culture Can Determine Firm’s Success.  The story is about a two Philadelphia-based law firms who realized some years ago that increased competition and declining fee structures would negatively affect long term growth in their practice specialty.  If they wanted to keep their income levels high they needed to diversify their practice with lateral hires that could bring with them a profitable book of business.  Unfortunately, the entrenched habits that defined the firms’ culture sabotaged multiple attempts at diversification. 

Change was given lip service.  It was not genuinely embraced.

If business leaders aren’t careful, legal risk management can suffer a similar fate.  Employees will follow leadership’s cue. What gets rewarded gets done. That means if meeting a quarterly target at any cost gets kudos, then compliance will take a back seat. 

Businesses serious about doing the right thing need to step back periodically and evaluate whether they are sending mixed messages to their employees that keep firms from being as successful as they can be.  This is especially important for small and medium sized companies who may feel they’re not big enough for ”legal reviews.”  While their legal needs may be modest in comparison to their larger counterparts, their needs will grow as their business does.  Periodically checking the legal pulse will help keep bad habits from getting too entrenched and more difficult to change later on when the stakes are higher.   

This month, in addition to reading about Legal Literacy at this website you will be able to read even more at http://www.score.org.

SCORE describes itself as “Counselors to America’s Small Business.”  It is a nonprofit association dedicated to ”educating entrepreneurs and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide. ”  It is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and 389 chapters throughout the United States and its territories, with 10,500 volunteers nationwide.  Founded in 1964, SCORE has both working and retired executives and business owners donate time and expertise as business counselors.  It is America’s premier source of free and confidential small business advice for entrepreneurs.

I am therefore honored to be SCORE’s guest blogger for November and to share information about the power and effectiveness of Legal Literacy in the workplace.  My first SCORE posting titled “What Every Woman Entrepreneur Should Know About the Law” can be found here.