A woman at the helm

Men still far outnumber women in top management/leadership positions and those that make it often face added scrutiny by being the first female in the company to make the grade. Managing partner Lesley MacDonagh, however, has more than proved her worth to Lovells and, with it, has developed a pragmatic attitude to the modern workplace. She tells Caroline Poynton about her rise to the top and why she believes it’s all a question of choice.

I have heard enough about Lesley MacDonagh to want to impress. As managing partner of Lovells for eight years, during which time the firm has doubled to 1,622 lawyers worldwide, MacDonagh has not only managed to cement a successful reputation for her management skills in the legal profession, but has done so during one of the most developmental phases in the firm’s history (three mergers in four years, bringing the number of offices worldwide to 27). That she also has four children adds to the sense that I am about to meet a modern-day superwoman.

Unfortunately, however, a ‘passenger intervention’ on the tube means that I am running late. As I speed walk down the last stretch of Holborn Viaduct towards Lovells’s new headquarters, I curse my decision against jumping in a taxi, recklessly navigate a difficult junction and, with two bags in one hand and my jacket in the other, finally stumble through the turnstile doors to find that I am in another world.

The cavernous reception area forms an abrupt contrast to the impatient rush of the world outside. It could be oppressive but for the calming sound of water pouring into a pool from a pendulum fountain at the far end of the room. Beyond the two receptionists, who field the entrance with a soothing efficiency, the ceiling disappears, so that the visitor can appreciate the rising rows of glass-partitioned offices. This is far from the business-like bustle of DLA or the artistic intimacy of Berwin Leighton Paisner. Rather, Lovells is a firm that oozes confidence and self-assurance through its cool colours, expanse of space and, most of all, its silence. And, while the pressures of the journey fade away, I realise that this clever interior design is also reminding clients of a simple fact: that they are at the heart of one of the most successful and powerful law firms in the country and, indeed, the world.

MacDonagh was pleased to lead the project to move the London headquarters, particularly as she has successfully undertaken the task in addition to her day-to-day role. “We were trying to get something in the building that isn’t too over the top, which has a human scale but is a good environment in which to work,” she says. Whatever the outcome, there is certainly something about the new offices that appears peculiarly suitable for this managing partner. She has the same cool glamour, combined with a personable and amiable air. And just as the offices demonstrate the firm’s market dominance, without intimidating the visitor, so has MacDonagh mastered the ability to talk concisely, answering questions quickly and neatly, but without appearing inhospitable. While she mentions early on in the interview that she has another appointment, so would like to know how long the interview is likely to take, she neither gives the impression that she is rushing, nor that she feels our chat is any less important that her other diary commitments. It is a skill that has surely been reinforced by years in the job, but I also suspect that there is something of the diplomat in MacDonagh’s approach to law-firm management.

Certainly, in describing the most important aspects of effective management, she frequently mentions the need to be inclusive. “I like to work as part of the team. I certainly don’t think of myself as somebody who won’t listen. Like everybody, I’m sure that I could listen more, but I like to work with people to get the best result,” she says. Such an approach is essential in the law-firm environment, where the managing partner has to work alongside the owners of the business. At Lovells, this adds up to 380 partners, all of whom have strong views. As MacDonagh says: “Consultation is essential, as is selling ideas into the firm so that people can comment on them before they’re a done deal.”

This all sounds well and good, but hardly the best way to ensure that things get done, especially in such a large firm. MacDonagh agrees, but has a simple philosophy for making the necessary tough decisions to ensure life moves on. “You weigh up all the factors and then decide what is in the interests of the firm, rather than pleasing an individual, getting something done quickly, or making something just go away. If you think of the firm as a whole, then that usually leads you to the right decision,” she says.

Her inclusive approach has also necessitated some important prioritisation. For instance, MacDonagh says: “There are myriad issues that crop up from different partners everyday from across the world.

They are all important and most of them are pretty urgent. In such circumstances, it’s easy to find your own personal agenda being pushed to one side.” To overcome this, MacDonagh has implemented some intense diary management, loading two days with meetings, just so that the third can be free for her own strategic agenda. It sounds like a tough and relentless commitment even for the most seasoned business manager, but for a lawyer by career choice, with little if any formal management training, it’s a bold move.

In recognition of this, a growing trend among smaller firms has been to replace the managing partner with a non-lawyer chief executive, leaving the partners to get on with what they do best, that is, fee-earning. For MacDonagh, however, the size of the firm has provided her with an essential support structure. “At the beginning, it was hard to distinguish whether I was feeling nervous because I was going into this vast new job, or whether it was because of my lack of management training,” she says. “I became more confident, however, because we recruited good managers in the support functions.” Reinforcing her argument, she adds: “I think at my level, the role is about judgement and creativity and while management training is generally important, it is more so if you’re a director of finance, for example.”

Be that as it may, it is a role that has taken her far from the client-facing days of her early career and I wonder whether she feels she has sacrificed anything in giving up her legal practice, especially as over ten years in management now realistically precludes her from going back to fee-earning work. On the contrary, MacDonagh is quick to say she has no regrets. “The managing-partner role is a very diverse job: it’s got people, strategy, and I’ve had a few interesting projects on top of the quite difficult day-to-day work.”

That MacDonagh has risen to the top of her profession should not seem so surprising considering her long, successful career with Lovells, first as an environmental and planning lawyer and later as head of the property sector. However, the statistics tell us that while many women are entering the profession, a large number are later leaving, having realised that a career in law mixes poorly with a family or home life. MacDonagh, however, is pragmatic. “A lot of women have to spin and balance more than the average male counterpart and that means that you’ve got tougher personal choices,” she says. “Having said that, some women actually want to leave at a certain point of their career. They have the ability because they are married to people who can support them; they have the choice, which is an obvious but sometimes overlooked point.”

Similarly, to the question of why so few women make it to board level in law firms, MacDonagh sweeps aside the inequality debate with a practical and realistic outlook. “People might find that they are working well keeping their clients, marriage and children happy and do not want to dip their toe into management or whatever else. For many, it’s a bridge too far when they’re combining all sorts of other things,” she says.

For MacDonagh, however, balancing the responsibilities of a home life with a flourishing career has been the norm for 19 years. Her ability to do this again lies in her positive focus on choice. Hence she is wary of overestimating the work/life balance debate, because she maintains that most people find the excitement, the high quality of work and the buzz around top-flight clients as something that they want and choose to do. To practically achieve this, she has ensured that she has always lived close to work to ensure that valuable time is never lost travelling to and from the office. Equally, by living nearby, she knows that she can be home should any emergency arise, a comfort that she has found invaluable to effectively maintaining her career.

While MacDonagh has plenty to feel proud of, the managing-partner position is finite and there is the question of where MacDonagh will go from here. A recent press release announced ‘the beginning of a new era’ as John Young took over as senior partner from Andrew Walker. Many saw MacDonagh as a future senior partner, but she has been keen to see through her time as managing partner and is now typically pragmatic and enthusiastic about the change. “John and I will have to get used to each other’s style of working, but a fresh injection of ideas and enthusiasm is always a good thing for the business,” she says.

As for her current role, MacDonagh has already made the decision not to stand again for re-election when her current term expires in 2006. When that time comes, MacDonagh, who has spent her whole career with Lovells, is unlikely to move to another law firm, and may find herself exploring other possibilities outside the firm she describes as a second home.

MacDonagh admits it is difficult to imagine anything she would enjoy so much, although she also says that there probably isn’t anything that she still wants to achieve professionally. “One hopes that in another life, whenever I come to leave Lovells, the combination of legal and management skills will be quite a useful platform to do something commercially or for the greater good,” she says. It is a comment that reminds me of Nigel Knowles, who said that, on leaving DLA, he plans to focus on fundraising activities. In the long run, perhaps it will be the charities that will be the ultimate winners of this exodus of successful managing partners, but it still seems sad that such talented individuals will effectively work themselves out of their businesses, whatever the legacy they leave behind. For leaders such as Knowles and MacDonagh, however, it will surely just be the beginning of another phase in their successful careers to date.

The interview over, I once again head out into the streets of central London. Bearing in mind the lesson I have learnt from MacDonagh about making choices, I decide that this time I will be jumping in a taxi.