First Among Equals

About the Authors

Patrick J. McKenna is a partner in Edge International, based in Edmonton, Canada. He is an internationally renowned expert on managing professional service firms. McKenna has extensive experience in advising professional service firms on strategy, leadership, and client relationships.

David H. Maister is co-author of "The Trusted Advisor" and a highly respected authority on managing professional service firms. His work focuses on professional development, firm strategy, and client management.

Main Idea

"First Among Equals: How Group Leaders Can Manage the Unmanageable" by Patrick J. McKenna and David H. Maister provides practical advice and concrete applications to help group leaders inspire, cajole, and provoke their team members to achieve their full potential. The book emphasizes the importance of both management basics and softer skills of inspirational leadership to effectively lead a group of confident, intelligent professionals.

Table of Contents

1. Getting Ready
2. Coaching the Individual
3. Coaching the Team
4. Building for the Future

Getting Ready

The first step in becoming an effective group leader is to clarify your role. You must help your people and your team win by acting as a catalyst between individuals with different skills, work styles, and priorities. This requires focusing on others' success rather than your own and influencing others without being domineering.

"Your job as a group leader is to help your people, and your team, win." – Patrick J. McKenna and David H. Maister

Key actions include:

• Spending time informally coaching and developing both senior- and junior-level group members.
• Conducting formal performance reviews and post-review coaching and counseling.
• Celebrating individual and group achievements, both small and large.

It's also important to confirm your mandate by reaching agreement on your "terms of engagement" with your superiors and fellow group members. This includes ensuring you have enough time to perform your job, the right to coach, and input on the compensation of team members.

"Your role as group leader must be clearly defined and agreed upon by all stakeholders." – Patrick J. McKenna and David H. Maister

Building relationships one at a time is crucial for success. You must become a trusted advisor to your team members by showing genuine interest in their professional and personal lives, being there in times of crisis, and offering support when needed.

"A trusted advisor helps you see things in a new way – this is different from telling you what to do." – Patrick J. McKenna and David H. Maister

One example of effective management highlighted in the book is Don Groninger, the onetime general counsel for Bridgestone/Firestone. Groninger was always looking for ways to advance the careers of his people, even if it meant their being promoted out of his legal group. He had a deep insight into people and could discover and nurture strengths that others might not see. He paved the way for you to take on stretching challenges, expected you to produce results, and trusted you to run with the ball, calling on him only when you felt the need to.