Monday, December 18, 2017

"Law’s mentorship model needs a rethink"/ Marcello Leone



Sept. 8, 2017 "Law’s mentorship model needs a rethink": Today I found this article by Phil Donnelly in the Globe and Mail

Chief talent officer at Borden Ladner Gervais, responsible for talent management nationally, for the firm’s partners and all legal and business-services professionals

The past decade has seen a fundamental transformation in the legal-services landscape, following the global financial crisis. Law firms and lawyers have to change at a pace and scale not previously seen in the legal industry.

Being a successful lawyer today requires a broad and deep skill set to deal with the complex and ever-changing legal landscape.

One needs to be a “T” lawyer, bringing both broad experience (represented by a horizontal line in a “T”) and deep expertise in their field/discipline (represented by the vertical stroke).

The question, then, is: How do lawyers develop this rich and varied mix of skills?
Law school teaches some of them, but educators are now looking at innovative models to broaden graduates’ skills.

For many years, law firms have operated an apprenticeship model of development, with young lawyers paired with those more experienced (often partners), who pass on their knowledge in much the same way as guild craftsmen did in the past.

However, firms are being challenged to provide a different approach to development, much in the same way as schools.

Mentorship remains an important element of development, but with an increasing number of millennial lawyers in the industry, this model requires a rethink.

Firstly, mentorship needs to be viewed as just one of a number of developmental interventions. Formal learning programs, sponsorship, coaching, feedback and experiential learning all play their part in developing the modern lawyer.

The concept of the T-shaped professional is gaining relevance in legal services, recognizing the need for deep legal technical expertise allied to broad business skills (e.g. business development, client relationship, legal project management or financial management). To develop a T-shaped lawyer requires a multipronged approach to legal education that the mentor model alone is unable to provide.

Mentorship is also changing as flaws in the old model are exposed.

Choosing mentors is crucially important, as the criterion of greater experience or knowledge is, in and of itself, no guarantee of being an effective mentor. Choosing individuals who are motivated to be good mentors and who demonstrate the characteristics and traits associated with effective mentorship is key.

Similarly, training and developing both mentors and mentees to optimize the relationship is important.

Finding the right pairing is key, as the chemistry between both parties is a vital ingredient of success.

Finally, it’s critical to ensure that mentors’ contributions are recognized and rewarded by their organization.

The lifeblood of any mentoring relationship is feedback, and providing data to support teachable moments is important.

Increasingly, technology is playing a part in providing regular real-time feedback and my firm, Borden Ladner Gervais, has recently introduced such a technology.

“Feedback in a Snapshot,” which has a 200-character limit similar to Twitter, gathers feedback about what a lawyer has done well and how they can develop.

More than 80 per cent of BLG’s associates are millennials, and so providing a varied portfolio of development experiences is important.

Peer-to-peer mentoring and reverse mentoring are other ways that lawyers can receive and provide guidance.

Mentorship remains a crucially important element in lawyer development and care needs to be exercised to ensure that the mentoring relationship is valuable.

However, to build a T-shaped lawyer, in response to a complex and rapidly changing environment, both legal educators and law firms require a sophisticated, pluralistic approach to lawyer development.

https://www.pressreader.com/canada/the-globe-and-mail-bc-edition/20170908/282041917285679

Sept. 18, 2017 The Ladder: Marcello Leone: Today I found this article in the Globe and Mail:


Marcello Leone, 50, is the president and CEO of Vancouver-based athletic-apparel company Respect Your Universe (RYU) Apparel. He bought, refreshed and relaunched the brand in late 2015. Previously, Mr. Leone worked in his family's specialty fashion retail business, Leone and L2.

I was born in Montreal and when I was six years old my family moved to Vancouver. My parents were inspired by the West Coast, so we drove across the country.

My father started off as a hairstylist in Vancouver and owned his own shop. My mom was working as the salon receptionist. They later started to sell shoes and apparel at the front of the shop. My mom went on a buying trip to Italy and Europe and started to import Italian and French shoes and clothing.

They eventually opened three shoe stores and three ladies' apparel stores. My father sold the hair salon. Later, they also sold the shoe and apparel stores and opened up one destination store, Leone, in 1986, which was considered the largest independent specialty store in Canada at the time.

I started selling in the family business when I was 13. I had a part-time job in the summer selling shoes. That's where my sales training started.

I later studied psychology at the University of British Columbia. The way I saw it, I was getting my business training in the family business. I knew I was going to be dealing with people. I felt psychology would make me well-rounded. After I graduated, I went and worked in the family business right away. It was there that I continued learning my business and management skills.

I had the luxury of working with my mother and father and then being exposed to the fashion industry, including to some of the best professionals in the industry. It opened my eyes to what the business world was about. Also, being in a family business, you're at the dinner table and you hear all the trials and tribulations, what's working and not working. You can't get any better business case study than being in that scenario.

In my late 30s, I started thinking about what the next 40 years would look like for me, my family and my children. I loved the family business and the people I worked with were amazing, but I also realized the industry was changing.

At 42, I left the family business. It was the right time for me to move on. (The family business sold a few years later, when I was 47, and still operates today). After leaving, my wife and I started to research areas of business to get into.

Innovative wellness was something we were interested in. We invested in an apparel line called Respect Your Universe (RYU) in 2011, which at the time was a mixed martial arts brand. I had an emotional connection with the brand; being respectful was something that was important for me. In August, 2014, we took over the business, relocated it to Vancouver and rebranded it to create a performance-based urban athletic apparel product.

I surrounded myself with entrepreneurs who have created businesses and been a part of business like I had. We know what it's like to roll up your sleeves and start from scratch. We're still in our infancy stage, but working hard to take it to the next level.

From a leadership perspective, when you start going global and scaling your business, it's completely different from having one regional store. This isn't a business where you can micromanage every little detail.

You need people who lead their groups in order to achieve the goals you set together. You have to trust that those people can execute. People also have to feel confident and trust the fact that they can grow with the business. That's the culture we have. I think it's a fair culture.

When you're building a business, you must also be true to your DNA and purpose. You must hold the line, even when it gets difficult. You have to do your research to know what you've done, and that you're in the correct space.

You have to be true and authentic in everything you do. Sooner or later it turns. When it does, it can be really powerful and exciting. I see a lot of businesses that, if their first year doesn't go the way they like, they wonder what to do next. You have to stay true to what you're doing. It takes time.

You worry every day that you're doing the right things and that the community and people connect with your brand. This is a public business. It's different from a private family business. We have a responsibility to employees, their families and to shareholders. I take it very seriously.

I'm a big believer that everything is possible in life. You just have to want it and go. No matter how hard, you have to keep going. If our ancestors have taught us anything, it's that anything is possible.

This interview has been edited and condensed.
As told to Brenda Bouw




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