Pro bono leads to a largesse of riches

'Having good discussion is like having riches' - so says a Kenyan proverb.  And, after our latest Firm Elite dinner, who am I to disagree. 

It is always a real privilege to meet new and old Firm Eliters, to discuss and debate new and old ideas,  to learn something about myself, my organisation, other people, other sectors, other organisations.  And I always come away wanting to do something new or try doing something differently - always as a result of the impact somebody else and their views or ideas made upon me. If last night's discussion was like having riches, then I have all the wealth in the world.

We were very prvileged to have as our speaker Rebecca Hilsenrath of Law Works. It never ceases to amaze me that individuals who play such a key role in their own organisations are willing, at the end of a long day, to come and tell others about what they do and to provide insight.  What is even more valuable is that they allow their own story to be hijacked and developed, usually out of all recognition, by fellow guests who question, introduce new concepts, test out ideas etc.

We learnt much about the legal profession's attitude towards pro bono.  And, for those of us who are ex-lawyers, as well as those who still are, a sense of pride must have developed for there are few, if any, other professions or trade who, as a sector, take the provision of valuable service and product for nothing, so seriously.  We all too often underestimate the value that the profession as a whole brings to society and last night we realised that we underestimate the value that Law Works adds to the profession in enabling pro bono to operate in the efficient and effective way that it does.   

It was simply a matter of time before the conversation turned to concepts such as social impact, ethical responsibility, conflicts and challenges to be found in deciding who makes a positive impact on society and in the serving of society by both individuals and organisations.  What is the value of reputation management and does it matter the reason for an individual or organisation's contribution to society or a project?  How does one meet the needs of younger generations in an organisation which purports to provide the chance to make an impact and then does not?  Where does the ability lie in an organisation to drive forward corporate inititatives which make a difference to society?  Unanswered questions still remain.

Guests were handpicked as usual from a list of those who had expressed an interest in coming, so that we had a number of different perspectives from lawyers,  individuals working in the third sector, those with particular skills in individual and organisational development and leadership, as well as the contribution of those interested in and specialist in reputation management.  Every angle was different, every contribution added to the gaining of insight into a number of concepts.

And it is not all about round table discussion.  Some of the best discussions that take place at dinners are 1:1. Now they may relate to business, they may not! The point is that common views and experiences, as well as different ones, are of great value to individuals today.  The discussion of the personal, the celebrity, the weather, past lives, children, dogs, haircuts, wine, chefs, profits, business ideas, mutual contacts...  all these add to the mix. 

So, on this occasion, pro bono (or rather the discussion of it) lead to huge wealth for all concerned. Our thanks to Rebecca and all guests for a great evening.

The impact you seek to make may be in the role you already have

'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a person in possession of a decently paid and intellectually challenging job must be in want of finding meaning in that job' (apologies to Jane Austen!)

For those of us operating in the legal and financial services sectors, and even the not for profit sector, we hear much at the moment about lack of meaning that individuals feel they gain from their roles.  Frequently we hear of individuals leaving their jobs, even their careers, to 'find greater social meaning' elsewhere.  It is clear that individuals are increasingly feeling disconnected from the impact that their role can make in society.  (One of the reasons that some of us have set up Interconnecting for Impact Ltd).

And yet, it is often the blindness of the organisation and the individual that leads to this disconnect.  The impact is there to be had, if only we could see it.

This was brought home to me yesterday when I attended the Lexis Nexis Money Laundering, Fraud and Financial Crime conference in London.  Firm Beliefs provides pro bono advice to Stop the Traffik, a charity aiming to stop the crime of human trafficking - or at least make a very large dent in it.  It had been invited to contribute a session on the crime of human trafficking.  I attended, along with Ruth Dearnley and Steve Chalke of Stop the Traffik and Jason Haines of Huntswood, also a pro bono advisor to the charity. Together we have begun to ask a series of questions of both the charity and the financial sector itself - what role can the financial sector play in combatting the crime.

Watching the body language of the delegates as Steve began to talk was interesting.  One delegate had already described the conference so far as 'intellectually useful but same old, same old'. And the body language supported that. Arms folded, pens at the doodle ready, the look of 'make me interested, punk' on their faces. And yet, within 10 minutes, Steve had everybody engaged.  As he told the story of  5 and  7 year old siblings in Mumbai who had begun to attend school there, their eyes full of life and fire, the delegates' body language changed. Attention was focused. And as Steve told of the disappearance of the two children, the quest to find them, the realisation that their father had sold them to fund his drink habit, and that they, like so many other children, have never been heard of again, even the most ardent doodler stopped.  As Jason repeated much of the terminology that delegates had already heard that morning, outlining the global, national and community regulations, law and administrative procedures that pervade the lives of these delegates when it comes to money laundering, suddenly one could see the penny dropping. Each tick on a tick sheet of money laundering obligations, each definition used in the latest legislation, is there to achieve an impact. And each delegate in implementing their roles, is helping to achieve that impact. And that impact comes in the form of one less child trafficked, one more child saved.

I do not  know how many of the delegates slept last night without imagining their own children caught up in a trafficking system which exists within our own geographical boundaries.  What I do know is that many business cards were left in response to our request to do so if delegates wanted to know more about what Stop the Traffik is doing and what they as individuals can do.

There is a wider issue here - as organisations you begin your usual round of strategic reviews, you too should ensure that you know what your aims are, the impact you seek to make. And you need to ensure that every individual knows how they can assist and drive the organisation in achieving that impact. And as individuals, rather than looking elsewhere to find meaning in your role, try looking at the role you have.

Stop the Traffik aims to empower the world to make a difference. How do you aim to empower your organisation's stakeholders? Where will you find the meaning in the role that  you have?

Pro bono - for public good, or yours?

I am not so sure that lawyers ought to undertake pro bono work.  Not because they don't necessarily want to (although there are those that clearly do) but more because, frankly, they don't know how to.  Which means that neither the lawyer nor the service receiver benefits.  A little harsh, I hear you say.  Maybe so.  But our experience working with law firms and charities gives us an insight into what is actually happening as far as pro bono initiatives are concerned.  And the more we see, often the less faith we place in it as a concept that really is for the public good, such is the poor implementation of the well-meaning concept.

For it comes from the expression pro bono publico - for the public good. That is in theory why lawyers have traditionally underaken such work.  Many moons ago, lawyers were at the forefront of making a difference to society. To this day there are still those who firmly believe that that is their role. And there are also those who still believe that but see that the professional world within which they work does not allow for that. So any pro bono initiatives they undertake, tend to be done with misgivings about their ability to do it well.

It is not just lawyers of course. Increasingly we see consultancies, surveyors, accountants - all manner of businesses and organisations - doing so.  And we find that they tend to 'do pro bono' a little better. But not hugely so.  Here at Firm Beliefs, we provide our consultancy services free to one charity every year.  And we encourage not just our law firm clients to do so, but also the executives in our larger charity clients. 

There are numerous organisations dedicated to this activity:  www.lawworks.org being one (and Rebecca Hilsenrath will be talking at our next Firm Elite dinner).  www.probono.net, www.adviceuk.org.uk, www.barprobono.org.uk,  the list goes on.  There are various initiatives, the latest being RollOnFriday Community Action a joint venture between RollOnFriday, LawWorks, the Law Society, and 25 international law firms.  Individuals who have lost their jobs could see themselves with a guaranteed interview after a number of pro bono hours. The International Bar Associaton has approved a Pro Bono Declaration and launched a site publicising this latest initiative across the global community of law firms.

So there are those who do pro bono, those who don't. Those who do it well, those who don't.

But we are also seeing some good, planned, initiatives. Here are some reasons that might resonate with your organisation's objectives:

1. Some firms are arranging for those who have been made redundant to join pro bono initiatives as part of their responsibility for their departing staff. This provides the lawyer with the means to continue to use, and indeed to develop, their skills.  For many, it also provides them with the opportunity to rethink their career goals. 

2. Other firms are arranging for those whose hours have been reduced to spend time undertaking pro bono work. Again, their lawyers maintain and develop their skills. It often leads to long standing relationships with others in the receiving organisations or the individuals being advised which are proving usual in many ways, not least in expanding the networks of the individual lawyers and of the firm.  These programmes however must be managed - and managed so that neither paying nor non-paying clients feel that their interests are secondary to the other.

3. Those firms who have delayed the start date of their new trainees, or who have offered 'long term sabbaticals' to existing employees, are finding that placing them in pro bono projects means that they are retaining the talent which they will most certainly continue to need.

A  number of tips for those of you considering using the pro bono initiatives:

1. What do you mean by pro bono?  For many firms, when they publicise their 'pro bono' initiatives, they tend to roll them up into CSR initiatives. It is not the place of this blog to illustrate the differences between corporate social responsibility, corporate responsibility, social impact etc etc.  Suffice it to say that, for many of those seeking pro bono services, they expect legal advice. Do not offer them painting and decorating services... No matter how much you want your staff to make a social impact. Match what is needed with what you can offer.

2. Try to control and manage the process of finding, placing and monitoring the projects - individuals providing pro bono advice using their own initiative can often waste an opportunity for your firm to maximise its own, and its clients', preferred and established skills and markets for those skills. If you do not have the resources or experience to do that (and let's face it, many lawyers are awful project managers and if they have such expertise inhouse they rarely rely on it!), then,

3. Outsource the process - to organisations that offer such services.  They are generally better at (1) locating projects to suit the firm's own values, experience and infrastructure and (2) energising and communicating with the firm's lawyers in order to generate interest and buy-in and (3) managing the relationship between all those concerned.  If you don't manage the process, the expectations and the experience, then the return on your investment in your energy and time, and the needs of the service receiver, will not be met.

4. Ensure that this will be a long term part of your business strategy.  Such initiatives have a habit of disappearing 'when real paid work comes back'....  Those organisations and sectors that suffer as a result of this, and the individuals within them, do not forget this. 'Only for as long as it suits us' law firms tend to be marked...  We cannot tell you the number of organisations that have 'blacklisted' law firms that have not treated the receivers of their pro bono services as well as they might.  Think of the impact of your reputation if you are not giving this the focus it deserves.

5. If you are a private practice firm, try to engage with in-house law departments that are known to you.  They may well be looking to place their own lawyers in pro bono initiatives, but without the support and experience to do so.  We are seeing some good joint initiatives occurring which are beneficial to all concerned.

6. Do not just allow any old lawyer to do pro bono!  You are providing a value to the community. That is still a commodity - you may not be selling it for fees but you are still providing a service that has a value. Interview your staff for the project, ensure they have the skills, choose wisely, manage the expectations of your staff and the receiver of the service - treat it like any other client matter.

6. Ensure your insurance covers you and your staff for the project.

7. Watch for conflict situations.

8. Ensure that the lawyers' time is credited as being 'of value' (and we hope that there are very few firms out there that still see 'value' as only being 'billable'...)

I could go on.  But I shan't! 

My suggestion if you are reading this and are interested in finding out more about pro bono would be to apply to come to our next Firm Elite dinner or to contact us at Firm Beliefs, or indeed any of the organisations mentioned that manage pro bono initiatives.

Are you the one holding your organisation back from innovative thinking?

Modern electronic communication methods are reaping huge rewards for small and large businesses alike, charities and entrepreneurs, profits and not for profits.  Innovation in terms of production or service delivery is going to be key for the future - indeed, it has been for some time.  E-communication methods enable both exchange of up to the minute ideas and views, as well as becoming a key part of the process of methods of manufacture, service delivery and business communication.

So what would you think if one of your staff said 'Ooh no, Twitter/LinkedIn/Facebook/Latest Invention is not for me/my organisation'.  We approach that response in two ways:

1. Has the individual assessed the opportunity and the risk of different methods of communication? If  the individual has not made any attempt to assess the opportunities and risks - has not even tried to find out about latest innovations in communication, or even tried out the latest offerings,  we wonder what value that individual can add to the future of the organisation, appearing to make a value judgement based on lack of research.

2.  If they say they have, we then say 'if not of value to you, might it be of value to your customers and therefore to your competitors?'  Frequently, the research undertaken regarding new methods of communication is based on assessment of the organisation's ability to manage and adapt to it, not the needs of the various stakeholders... The starting point has to be to assess the value to an organisation's stakeholders of that organisation adopting innovative methods of communication,

What has surprised us is that many law or other professional firm owners or charity trustees or not for profit managers - ie the leaders of organisations - are the ones who appear to be unwilling to run pilot schemes testing out new technologies, who appear even to be unaware of latest technologies - not their employees.  Whereas it is their employees who regularly use Facebook, Twitter etc - a sign of early adopters, trend testers, innovation enquirers.   There is untapped knowledge and experience within those employees - employers and leaders need to untap it, to capture it.  They will not do so if they are not even alive to the existence of some of these latest technologies.

Not all technologies are of value to every organisation's stakeholders, and therefore not all technologies will be of value to every organisation.  But unless the leaders of those organisations make themselves aware of what is out there, identify opportunities that might be of strategic benefit, test those latest developments,  then they cannot expect to maintain the ability to meet stakeholders' needs.  Innovation is key to the future. Both law firms and charities are facing hitherto unprecedented challenges to their existing markets - if they are to harness innovation to ensure continued survival, they need to ensure their minds are open to the potential from the innovations already around them.

So make sure it is not you, the leader of an organisation, holding your organisation back...

Stakeholder relationships – without them, your future is but an unachievable dream.

It is now more important than ever to understand the likely impact of stakeholder expectations on future strategies.  Without stakeholder support, the best laid plans will simply not be effective. And effectiveness in the current environment is key.

So you need to do something quite basic... communicate with them.  We are pleased when we see a ‘stakeholder communication plan’ in any organisation.  But it is usually a document with no backbone and no implementation in reality.  And the larger the organisation, the less effective we find the comms plan to be! So we look for evidence of sustainable relationships, based on effective communication.  So what do we look for? 

Organisations must ensure that they:

1.  identify who their stakeholders are
2. ascertain those stakeholders’ potential to either block,         undermine or support the progress of their strategy.
3.  identify methods of ensuring support from all and then the continuation of that support
4. have a plan which provides for continual, appropriate, communication. 

We find that most organisations fail at the first hurdle – who are your stakeholders?  If you have not identified them, how can you communicate with them?  Most organisations will easily identify their clients/customers and the potential ones.  They might even identify their staff as being stakeholders.  But rarely do they identify their suppliers, their contacts and multipliers, their shareholders, their trustees, the government, the lawmakers, the international influencers, your competitors...   (And not just those who already are but also those who could be.  And remember you do not choose your competitors, others do!) So they may be individuals or organisations that you have not even contemplated hitherto – who are not even on your radar yet.

So your starting point has to be a very simple question – who are those organisations/groups/individuals that you need to make your organisation a success (as identified by your strategic vision and goals)?  In other words, who has the power to make you or break you?   

Once you have identified them, you need to rate them according to the level of threat they may present to you.  Consider who will present you with fewest problems, those who are unpredictable but manageable in terms of how they can affect you, those who are powerful but actually fairly predictable, and then those who pose the greatest danger or indeed provide you with the greatest opportunities.  Stakeholders pose different problems and opportunities. So each needs to be identified separately according to risk and opportunity.

Then – how are you going to keep them on board – how will you communicate with them?  Who will take minimum effort, who needs to be kept informed, which just need to be kept satisfied about your future plans, and who will be the key players. And remember that communication is a two way exercise – how will you find out about their plans which might impact upon yours?

We hear much talk about ‘communications strategy’ and many resources (human and electronic and financial) are put that way.  But unless you get the basics right, you are wasting resources and the chances of your strategic plans going awry increase.