The leadership style known as “command-and-control” is a the helm of many law firms, acting often as a detriment to team culture. This top-down approach involves the leader making unilateral decisions, giving orders, and maintaining ultimate authority over their subordinates, or “team”.
In a previous article titled, “Law Firms’ Command-and-Control Management Style Isn’t Working – What Now?”, the discussion expanded on the behaviours exhibited by leaders of this type, how such behaviours systematically erode trust, and delved into new avenues for law firms to regain this trust. This time, we’ll expand on these issues by appraising the extent to which you or your firm may be perpetuating this leadership style, studying why it’s ceased to be productive and exploring alternative management strategies.
Command and control leadership styles certainly aren’t novel, and their unsuitability for modern work environments has been outlined at length in this insightful coverage on the matter.