Tom

Tom had built the firm on his reputation. he billed more hours than anyone else in the building. he was also the reason the firm couldn't grow beyond what he could personally bill and supervise. two senior lawyers on his team had the technical capability and the client skills to lead independently. they had never been formally given the authority to do so. Tom reviewed their work before it went out. Tom was copied on their client emails as a matter of habit. clients had learned to call Tom directly for anything important. the senior lawyers had learned that Tom would be involved regardless. no one had made this a rule. it had just become the architecture of the firm.

Tom was billing fifty hours per week personally, managing the firm around it, and had not taken a holiday longer than four days in three years. the firm had flatlined at $3.1m for two of them.

Tom's personal billing reduced from fifty hours to twenty hours per week within eight months. the senior lawyers billed at full capacity for the first time. firm revenue grew from $3.1m to $4.8m in fourteen months, driven entirely by the senior lawyers having the authority and the capacity to take on and own their own matters. Tom pursued a merger conversation he had been wanting to act on for two years. the first partner-level meeting happened without Tom in the room. it went well. he heard about it at the end of the week.

the senior lawyers weren't underperforming. they were underleveraged. Tom's involvement at every stage wasn't quality control. it was a structural habit that had become the ceiling of the entire firm.