In a legal landscape dominated by billable targets, high stakes and constant performance demands, one partner says the most successful leaders aren’t the ones chasing numbers – they’re the ones who put their people first.
Speaking on a recent episode of The Boutique Lawyer Show, Philip Colman, MST special counsel and former principal, explained that one of the most important lessons he has learnt as a leader is that prioritising and genuinely caring for your people is essential to both individual and organisational success.
Like many young lawyers, Colman reflected on how his career began with uncertainty, never imagining – or planning – for the day he would step into a leadership role.
“When you’re a young lawyer, you never know where your career is going to go, and I suppose I fell into a smallish type firm where after five or six years of practising, suddenly I was a leader in conjunction with obviously my fellow partners,” he said.
For Colman, leadership in the legal profession extends far beyond strategy or results. True leadership, he argued, is about creating an environment where team members feel supported, heard, and valued every single day.
“You have to care for your people, and you’ve got to understand that they might be handling difficult matters, they might have difficult things going on in their life, which they may or may not share with you,” he said.
“But you’ve got to make sure that when they come into work each day that they’re looked after, that you’re communicating with them.”
Even small gestures can have a meaningful impact, Colman explained, with simple acts – like grabbing a coffee and genuinely asking how someone is doing beyond their work – helping to build strong, lasting connections.
“You go and have a coffee with them and show interest in not only the work they’re doing, but anything else they want to talk to you about,” he said.
While leadership discussions in law often revolve around revenue targets and client demands, Colman emphasised that genuine care for employees is what drives long-term success and inspires them to give their best work.
“Care and respect for your employees [is important] because the bottom line will take care of itself,” he said.
“If you’re caring and respecting your team and they themselves have the same values, well, then the bottom line should take care of itself. They’ll work hard, they’ll produce the type of revenue you want them to produce, and they’ll develop their careers.”
