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Leading Professionals

An evidence-based account of why professional organizations are uniquely hard to lead and how effective leadership actually happens within them through plural, informal, and politically skilful means.

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What it’s about

Drawing on twenty-five years of research and more than 500 interviews with senior professionals in accounting, consulting, and law firms worldwide, Laura Empson explains why leading professional organizations—firms full of powerful, autonomous, insecure over-achieving 'prima donnas'—defies the conventional leadership playbook. The book shows that in settings where authority is contingent, power is diffuse, and no one has to follow anyone, leadership is a plural, co-constructed phenomenon that must balance extensive autonomy against contingent authority. Through the concept of the 'leadership constellation,' models of leadership dyads, analyses of insecure over-achievers and social control, the rise of management professionals, organizational evolution, mergers, and decisive action under ambiguity, Empson equips thoughtful practitioners and scholars to ask better questions and see their organizations anew, culminating in ten paradoxes of professional leadership.

The through-line

Who it’s for: A thoughtful professional (or scholar) who has moved into or aspires to a leadership role in a professional organization and wants to lead effectively.
The problem: Leading autonomous, powerful, insecure over-achieving colleagues who don't have to follow, amid ambiguous authority and diffuse power. Feeling frustrated, isolated, and baffled about why previous attempts at leadership failed and why smart people do stupid things.
The plan: Understand the twin challenges of extensive autonomy and contingent authority.
Map your leadership constellation and its informal power dynamics.
Master the microdynamics of legitimizing, negotiating, and manoeuvring.
Recognize and work with the partnership ethos, dyads, insecurity, and ambiguity in your firm.
Judge when to act, when to do nothing, and when to amplify ambiguity.
The payoff: You navigate power and politics skilfully, building consensus and leading discreetly. · You embody and resolve conflict, sustain a dynamic equilibrium, and channel insecurity productively. · You feel less alone, recognizing you are part of a leadership constellation.

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Additional reading

Stumbling on Happiness · Daniel Gilbert
Explains the science behind why people are poor predictors of their own future happiness, a key concept the book applies to lawyer career choices.
The Paradox of Choice: Why Less Is More · Barry Schwartz
Discusses how an overabundance of options can lead to anxiety and dissatisfaction, which the book applies to the daunting array of career paths facing law students.
Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness · Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein
The book uses its concept of 'choice architecture' to suggest how law firms could structure work-life balance options to be more appealing and effective.
The Tipping Point · Malcolm Gladwell
Cited for the 'Rule of 150,' which argues that organizations (like law firms) lose cohesiveness and become less satisfying workplaces once they grow beyond 150 members.
Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives · Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler
Referenced to support the argument that peer groups and social networks have a powerful influence on individual happiness, emphasizing the importance of choosing the right law school and firm culture.
Wherever You Go, There You Are · Jon Kabat-Zinn
A foundational, accessible text on mindfulness by the creator of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, which heavily influences the book's approach.
Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain · Sharon Begley
Explores the science of neuroplasticity and how meditation can physically change the brain, providing evidence for the claims made in the book about meditation's transformative power.
Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind · Kristin Neff
Offers a deeper exploration of self-compassion, a core practice in the book that is identified as being particularly challenging yet crucial for lawyers.
A Mindful Nation · Tim Ryan
Written by a U.S. Congressman, this book makes the case for mindfulness in various sectors of society, including high-stress professions, reinforcing the book's relevance.
Daring Greatly · Brené Brown
Explores the importance of vulnerability, a theme the book connects to heartfulness and argues is essential for lawyers to engage with for authentic connection and well-being.