Oxford Leadership‘s Leading High-Performance Teams & Individuals programme.

Oxford Leadership was engaged to strengthen and sustain its position as a leading global law firm.

Background

White & Case is a leading global law firm experiencing significant international growth and expansion. Operating in 27 countries with cross-border expertise, its staff are integral, long-standing members of their communities. White & Case partners with world-acclaimed banks and businesses, governments, state-owned entities, and start-up visionaries. The company was named “International Firm of the Year” in 2013 by The Lawyer magazine.

Challenge

White & Case is a leading global law firm experiencing significant international growth and expansion. Operating in 27 countries with cross-border expertise, its staff are integral, long-standing members of their communities. White & Case partners with world-acclaimed banks and businesses, governments, state-owned entities, and start-up visionaries. The company was named “International Firm of the Year” in 2013 by The Lawyer magazine.

Objectives

The company’s strategic direction sought to:

• Better serve clients
• Transform the firm’s culture
• Contribute to the firm’s profitability

Solution

Oxford Leadership developed a new programme entitled, “Leading High-Performing Individuals and Teams” to complement White & Cases’ long-term partner development programmes.

We brought together and blended a combination of our methodologies:

• Leading High-Performing Teams
• High-Performance Team Coaching
• Executive Coaching

Key elements of our highly interactive, customised design for White & Case included:

• Knowledge about high-performing teams
• Consulting experience with other professional service firms
• Case studies from high-performing White & Case partners
• Action planning for each participant based on principles of adult learning
• Opportunities for ongoing mutual support and coaching

A three-step process was created to accomplish this programme:

1. Collaborative design—comprising intense interaction between Oxford Leadership and White & Case. This collaboration included interviews with White & Case partners and the development of customised materials.
   
2. Pilot programme—involving White & Case partners in its New York City office.
   
3. Global roll-out of a second programme in New York, with partners from offices around the U.S., and two programmes in London, with partners from across Europe. Programmes were planned in Germany and Asia.

This is one of the best partner programmes we’ve ever done.

Results

Following the success of this programme, we are in discussions with White & Case about similar programmes for specific groups within the firm—for example, a programme for legal teams working in specific business sectors and a programme for legal teams working in specialised areas of law.

White & Case cited the following strategies and insights gained through its collaboration with Oxford Leadership:

• How to provide timely, specific, and ongoing feedback for associates to learn and grow.
• The power of purpose in motivating high-performing individuals and team.
• Importance of “walking the talk” with respect to values.
• How to share and leverage best practices across teams and groups.
• The need to offer similar programmes for senior associates.
• Partners need opportunities like these programmes to meet one another, reflect together, and share best practices.
• Immediately able to use tools provided with their teams and associates.
• Improved team performance, leading to “wins” with clients.
• Learned methods for relationship building among partners in different groups and across offices.