All law firms have their politics, where everyone is trying to get what they want out of their position within the firm and is playing chess with everyone else to secure the best position they can for themselves.

For this reason, following business etiquette and not being a troublemaker can seem like the best way; however, doing so usually causes us to become a ‘beige people pleaser’.

Before we address this behaviour in your colleagues and team members, let’s start with where you have the most significant opportunity for elevating firm-wide performance, yourself.

Being a beige people-pleaser means attending meetings with colleagues to catch up on how everyone is progressing in advancing their responsibilities within the firm, and when someone says. “Sorry, I had too much on, I didn’t get around to doing that.” You don’t say anything, and you carry on as usual.

Or when your colleagues are late to a meeting, you don’t say anything, and you sweep such behaviour under the carpet.

Or when you see someone else speak in a frustrated tone to someone else in your firm with several witnesses, you join in with the ‘ostrich with its head in the sand’ survival technique as everyone else in the room does.

All this is normal.

It’s being beige.

It’s being a people-pleaser.

Should you address such ineffective ways you see from others in your firm?

Absolutely, but why?

Not addressing such behaviour promotes a culture of playing small and blaming others and circumstances, rather than individuals taking responsibility, which is exhausting for you and everyone else.

Not holding others accountable for such behaviour promotes a very dissatisfying work culture, suggesting that it’s acceptable for people not to adhere to agreed-upon standards, that it’s okay for them to be late to meetings, and that it’s OK to speak to each other disrespectfully.

How effective will your firm be if you try building on top of this

You might do ‘ok’, but you will never, ever, build a truly thriving, high-performance work culture that’s significantly profitable and a culture that everyone loves being part of.

Today, stop being a ‘beige people pleaser’ and instead take on being bold.

If your colleagues don’t do what they said they would do, make a separate one-on-one appointment with them to explain how badly this impacts the growth of the firm and promotes a terrible culture. Then request that from now on, they do what they say they will or decline future requests altogether.

If your people are late to meetings, there’s no need to punish them as such; however, you need to ask them to be on time for future meetings and, if need be, coach them to be more organised.

If you witness someone speaking disrespectfully to another team member, do not allow this behaviour to continue. Tell them that your firm has a culture of being collaborative and kind, and that if they can’t resolve a disagreement with someone else in the firm, rather than getting into a fight with them, they should bring their problem to their manager or you for support.

All this takes courage, but if you don’t show up boldly, hold your team members to account and offer that support, who will?

If this is difficult for you then start by speaking your concerns with another co-equity partner or senior colleague who gets your commitment to take the firm and everyone in it to new heights.

Once you have a few of you agreeing on the culture you want to see across the firm, you won’t feel alone.

Also, when your team members do things well and in a way that promotes the high-performance culture you’d love to see more of, acknowledge them for their actions in front of everyone else in their department or in firm-wide meetings.

Doing so leads everyone to move in a new and ever more inspiring direction.

However, all of this only starts with you.

As Mahatma Gandhi once said:

“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.”

Other thought leaders have later condensed this into. “Be the change you want to see.”

Mahatma Gandhi has become iconic for his achievements in bringing about significant change for India, most notably causing the Indian independence movement through nonviolent resistance, which ultimately led to India's independence from British rule in 1947.

What could you achieve if you took on being bold?

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