People Leverage

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to unpack the four types of leverage available to small law firms.

People. Systems. Media. Capital

Let's start with the one most misunderstood: people leverage.

The myth of "just hire someone"

Most firm owners know by now that hiring alone doesn't solve problems.

But when it's hard to see another way forward, you tend to freeze with inaction. Stuck between overwork and the fear of adding another salary.

Here's the truth:

People leverage only works when it sits on top of system leverage.

You don't hire someone to solve chaos. You build structure first, then add people into that structure.

The framework behind effective hiring

If you want someone to take ownership of a task, say client interviews, they'll need

• The right process for how it's done.
• The right tools (forms, templates, systems) to get it done.
• The right SOPs that show what "done well" looks like.

Hiring is the most expensive form of leverage you can use.

An intermediate solicitor might cost $80K to $120K. An admin, $70K to $100K. That's before training, supervision, and recruitment fees.

And you can't just fire and rehire your way through mistakes. Employment law makes that painful and costly.

So before you bring anyone on, design the framework around their success.

A simple pre-hiring checklist

• Know exactly what you want the role to achieve. Not a typical job description, but clear deliverables on exactly what they need to do.
• Have SOPs for every major task.
• Have a pipeline of work so the person stays focused on their core function.
• Build out all the precedents, templates, and knowledge bases they'll need.
• Create decision rules for when they can act alone versus when to come to you.
• Define success markers for them and review them together at pre-determined intervals, including ROI on the role.

The superstar myth

We all secretly hope for that "unicorn" hire: technically brilliant, emotionally intelligent, loyal, and low-drama.

But let's be honest.

Those people are probably already working in good firms with good salaries. And even if you attract one, it's unlikely they'll stay long.

Your job isn't to find a unicorn.

It's to build a system that turns solid people into strong performers within your system.

That's real people leverage. And it's how you start freeing yourself from the day-to-day.

Next week, we'll unpack system leverage:

More on Tuesday

Gordon