Overview

This book provides an actionable roadmap for leaders to enhance client-centricity, shift mindsets, and create the right teaming climate so that a culture of collaboration, innovation, and inclusivity can thrive. Derived from over 280 interviews with senior executives in professional services and their clients—along with hands on experience leading hundreds of multidisciplinary teams on innovation journeys—Professor DeStefano reveals the path to successful collaboration and innovation efforts in professional services, including how to avoid the pitfalls that lead to failure.

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9781639053490

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""Leader Upheaval is a must read for anyone in professional services. It captures the essence of great client service and how we need to continue to hone those skills in a fast-changing world.""--Lisa Sawicki ""Leader Upheaval stands alone as the most informative, helpful, and comprehensive book available today for lawyers and other professional service providers undertaking transformative change initiatives in their organizations. The learnings presented by Professor DeStefano could not be more timely, as they coincide with the advent of democratized generative artificial intelligence and the resulting acceleration of client demands for even more client-centric, experience-based innovation and collaboration from their professional service providers. DeStefano methodically and convincingly makes the case for the digital transformation imperative for multinational companies, and then masterfully and interestingly guides the reader through the essential success factors for leading impactful organizational transformation. The clarity and depth of her writing is made highly practical and relevant to the reader through an extensive presentation of meaningful quotes from legal and other practitioners. As a general counsel continuing to pursue the digital transformation of legal services, I will no doubt consult Leader Upheaval on a regular basis, and it is gratifying to know that future legal leaders will have such valuable guidance and advice available to them as they lead in their own transformation journeys.""-- Bill Deckelman, EVP & General Counsel, DXC Technology ""A thought-provoking account of the unthinkable truth: All professional service providers should learn how to innovate, even if their business model isn't broken. A necessary read for anyone who wants to differentiate in the professional services marketplace.""--Augusto Aragone, EVP, Secretary, and General Counsel, Ingram Micro ""Again, Professor Michele DeStefano focuses her attention on innovation in the professional services space and provides us with a well-researched, executable method for innovation that weaves marketplace needs into the creative process.""--Paul Silverglate, Partner, Vice Chair-US Technology Sector Leader, Deloitte & Touche LLP ""Ask any lawyer and they will tell you they consider themselves an innovator in what they do because lawyering requires a large dose of adaptability and creativity. But lawyers are notoriously resistant to change when it comes to how they deliver their services. This book makes a needed and extraordinary contribution to the topic of innovation and collaboration in the delivery of professional services, starting with a review of the factors that compel change today, before delving into the leadership, cultural and procedural levers, and as well as practical tools that leaders can use to make change happen. I expect it will be required reading in many law firms and in-house legal departments around the world.""--Horacio Gutierrez, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Legal & Compliance Officer, The Walt Disney Company ""Backed by her experience leading over 230 multidisciplinary teams on a four-month journey and creating an inclusive culture, Professor DeStefano provides concrete strategies and tactics on how to enhance your leadership style and transform the culture of your team, department or firm.""--Petra Zijp, Partner, NautaDutilh N.V. ""Finally! A book by a LawLander, a member of the guild's academy no less, that directly and persuasively makes the case for culture, service, and people. In a LawLand obsessed with itself and convinced of its privilege and uniquetitude, to find our way to sustainability takes a new generation unafraid to show empathy. To learn from mistakes. To embrace servant leadership. In reality, people are our most important asset--our most critical tech. Make no mistake, Prof. DeStefano is no normal LawLander-- her career outside law in, OMG, Corporate America, and in Big Law, as well as her development of and dedication to LawWithoutWalls, shines through each and every page. This is a manifesto for the bedrock necessary to build a customer-centric service credo. When you read this book--and you must read it if you care about a sustainable LawLand and your place in it, I ask only that every time you read the word ""client"" you replace it with ""customer."" In so doing you will stretch away from the narcissistic LawLand of today. Then you'll be able to take the risk to step toward that vision. Finally, you'll find the courage to make the leap to NextLaw--where optimization of legal matters is the norm. Prevention of legal problems is the destination. And a culture creating truly marvelous customer experiences is the objective. Let Prof. DeStefano be your inspiration, your sherpa, your whisperer.""--Jeff Carr, Former SVP, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, Univar Solutions and Former SVP, General Counsel, FMC Technologies ""In Leader Upheaval, Professor DeStefano utilizes interviews, critical analysis, and conversational writing to convince all of us that honing the mindset, skillset, and behaviors of innovators is the key to sharpening our skills, opening our minds, and changing the way we work to delight our clients.""--Yvette Ostolaza, Chair, Sidley Austin Management Committee ""In a time of rapid change, Michele's latest work provides the practical guidance needed for leaders to rise to and meet the challenges that professions have not had to meet before. It builds on her earlier works and clearly drives home why there is a need to do things differently now in professions that have to date only known slow incremental change. A must-read for those looking to lead diverse people across generations in digital times when the only constant is change.""--Alan Keep, Managing Partner, Bowmans ""In her second Upheaval book, Michele DeStefano continues to tap into key issues for any business. Collaboration, innovation, and culture change take center stage as DeStefano provides very direct and helpful tips on how to lead, manage, and inspire teams, while emphasizing the need to really understand and serve the client. The book also invites the leaders to take a more introspective approach and provokes the seasoned or an emerging leader to work, first, on self-awareness and humility in order to become an effective leader. These teachings and practical recommendations are more relevant now than ever considering the complexities of the world. This book stands as a very important resource for leaders determined to not only navigate change but to lead it and become a catalyst for positive transformation in any organization.""--Marco Araujo, Chief Legal & Compliance Officer, Nubank ""In law firms, change is hard. Even rudimentary change can easily fail, and when it comes to driving change as profound as innovation in a law firm, something special is needed. And that's what Michele DeStefano provides in this book. It's the method, techniques, and insights she has developed leading change initiatives in law firms, and few if any have more experience of it. She acknowledges that her 3-4-5 Method(TM) may not work for everyone, but in grappling with difficulties that any law firm leader seeking real change must confront, she offers a useful blueprint to help them on their own journey.""--Hugh Verrier, Former Chair, White & Case ""In the ever-evolving legal landscape, the traditional lawyer archetype of technical expertise and unwavering adherence to established practices is no longer sufficient for success. Tomorrow's lawyers must embrace a client-centric approach, prioritizing innovation, and service excellence to truly thrive. Michele DeStefano's Leader Upheaval serves as an indispensable guide for legal leaders seeking to navigate this transformation. DeStefano masterfully outlines the fundamental shift required for lawyers to excel in the 21st century. She challenges the notion that technical proficiency alone can guarantee success, emphasizing the need for a holistic approach that encompasses collaboration, creativity, and a deep understanding of client needs. With a conversational and anecdote-rich style, DeStefano provides actionable insights and practical strategies for legal leaders to cultivate a culture of innovation within their teams. Leader Upheaval is not merely a theoretical treatise; it is a practical handbook brimming with concrete examples and real-world applications.""--Stacey Quaye, Global Head of IP, Innovation & Design ""Michele is a driving force in the legal industry. She makes a compelling case in her new book that being a trusted legal advisor is not good enough in today's world. Clients want to hire lawyers who can innovate, who know how to collaborate internally and externally, and who are strategic. Most importantly, lawyers need to understand a client's wants, needs, and desires and to develop strong teams. Michele has done the research-- she has interviewed well over 200 lawyers and clients for her new book. The insights from these interviews provide real-world examples of how the legal services industry needs to adapt and do better.""--Craig Seebald, Co-Chair of the Global Litigation Department, Vinson & Elkins ""Michele takes the reader from macro trends impacting professional services firms to adaptive leadership skills to redefine how we think about service delivery. She examines the important role digital mindsets and culture play in enabling real innovation to thrive. As well as bringing to life innovation tools and techniques which seek to unlock breakthrough client-centric experiences and provide a roadmap for business leaders to follow to build their adaptive leadership capabilities and drive growth.""--Michelle Mahoney, Executive Director, Innovation, King & Wood Mallesons ""Michele provides many useful tools for supporting collaboration and innovation. But her most powerful idea is a simple one--focus on your client's experience--and let that drive innovation. Clients who are delighted with how you deliver the service will drive the mindset shift that will create a sustainable innovation culture within your firm.""--Michael Hertz, Chief Marketing Officer, White & Case ""Michele DeStefano has done it again! Thirteen years of research and leadership on the ground in innovation, collaboration, and culture creation shine through in her sparkling Leader Upheaval, all delivered with plain speaking and leavened with common sense.""--Adam O. Emmerich, Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz ""Michele DeStefano has written a thorough and extremely practical book on managing collaboration, innovation, and culture change in professional services firms and corporate units. If you are a team manager or project leader in professional services, then read it before you embark on your next assignment in the area. You will profit tremendously and improve your performance in the role right away.""--Peter Kurer, Former Chairman, UBS; Chairman, Sunrise Communications; and author of Legal and Compliance Risk ""Michele DeStefano is the extraordinarily rare visionary who also has a great gift for making things happen and getting things done--the right way. Leader Upheaval brilliantly provides professional services firm leaders with years of her research-based insights and expertise and most importantly is a book--and workbook--that they can pick up and quickly apply to drive change. Whatever other changes may be coming, generative AI will supercharge competition in the markets for professional services and there will be clear winners and losers, with complacency no longer an option. My best advice: use Leader Upheaval across your firm as your playbook for winning.""--Scott Westfahl, Professor of Practice and Faculty Director Harvard Law School Executive Education ""Michele DeStefano's Leader Upheaval is a high-octane book of hard truths for successful organizations to thrive in the complex global economy today. Just as Michele pleads for leaders to have courage to trust in collaborative problem-solving, have courage to read this book with an ""open mind"" and you will be reaping rewards in both your professional and personal growth. From the pairing of humility and curiosity to create safety nets in enabling risk taking, to the consequences of disruptive technology in new workplace environments and markets, this book has been distilled from hundreds of interviews, case studies, and years of highly acclaimed training and consultancy work undertaken by Michele globally. Her incisive 3-4-5 Method(TM) is another invaluable tool for professional organizations attempting to drive collaborative innovation and the iterative steps within gives structure to her novel concept, helping leaders to drive toward certainty of positive outcomes for their organizations. This book is not simply another manual on what good leadership is supposed to look like to everyone else. Michele's ""Three Rules of Engagement"" guides leaders to be self-aware, to be focused as individual contributors and vested owners of team wins, while not being egotistical or selfish. Providing a blueprint for leadership to cultivate an environment for multidisciplinary teams to thrive, the book gives deep insights to help organizations concoct winning formulas toward self-determined success. This book is a worthy adversary to anyone serious about leading teams and driving change, as well as to hone and sharpen adaptive leadership skills. Candid, refreshing, and pragmatic, I would recommend it as essential reading for leaders in professional services firms to contemplate Michele's hard truths within.""--Jerry K. C. Koh, Managing Partner Allen & Gledhill LLP ""Michele DeStefano's great talent is seamlessly blending practice and theory. Leader Upheaval is an invaluable book in this spirit, drawing on her experience of managing a successful global change program and on her evident mastery of the academic literature on innovation and collaboration. All thoughtful leaders should buy this book and follow its guidance.""-- Professor Richard Susskind OBE, co-author of The Future of the Professions ""Michele DeStefano's last book, Legal Upheaval, established her as a master alchemist in turning theory into practice for law firm leaders trying to cope with growing disruption in the market for corporate legal services. In this book, DeStefano urges leaders to take the next step by confronting the single biggest obstacle for achieving collaboration, innovation, and culture change: themselves. In simple and direct prose backed by years of interdisciplinary research and unparalleled experience teaching and practicing innovation, DeStefano guides readers through a step-by-step process for leading and managing change. The result is an eminently readable and immediately useful guide that belongs on the shelf of every professional service provider who understands that the first step in overcoming any challenge is to acknowledge, to paraphrase the great cartoonist Walt Kelly's philosophizing opossum Pogo, that when we meet the enemy, they is us!""--David B. Wilkins, Lester Kissel Professor of Law and Director of the Center on the Legal Profession, Harvard Law School ""Professional service providers (including lawyers in corporations and in law firms) are, by nature, change resistant. Professor DeStefano offers a practical approach to breaking through this change-aversion by laying out a planned approach to leading organizations through the unprecedented changes the professional service providers industry will continue to see at an ever-accelerating rate.""--Joe Otterstetter, Former Associate General Counsel, 3M ""This book by Professor Michele DeStefano is simply a must-read for professional service providers who aspire to add real-life, long-term value to business partners, stakeholders, customers, or colleagues beyond pure and technical legal solutions. Professor DeStefano provides numerous examples, anecdotes, and case studies that make the guide a compelling and captivating read.""--Clifton Richard Harrison, Global Market Leader, EY Law ""This book is different! As DeStefano says in her introduction, there are many books that talk about innovation, collaboration, and culture creation. What DeStefano does in this book is walk the walk. She explores the nitty gritty of leading and managing and explains how to do it. All of this is done in a very readable style with plenty of real examples. My favorite statistic in the book is that ""75% of change efforts fail due to poor management or execution."" Leaders need to radically improve! This book will help. The overall distinction of this book is practical advice. Every firm leader should read it!--Stephen Revell, Consultant, Former Partner, Freshfields ""This powerful and practical book provides lawyers and service professionals of all kinds with the tools they need to forge a culture of innovation, collaboration, and creativity within their teams.""--Bjarne Tellmann, Founding General Counsel and Member of Executive Committee, Haleon"

Author Information

Michele Destefano, BA, magna cum laude, Dartmouth College, JD, magna cum laude, Harvard Law School, is a Professor of Law at the University of Miami and Guest Faculty at Harvard Law School's Executive Education Program and at IE School of Law. DeStefano is the founder of LawWithoutWalls and MOVEL?W. DeStefano is a former Climenko Fellow and Lecturer at Harvard Law School. Before attending law school at Harvard, she was an advertising executive at Leo Burnett and a marketing manager at Levi Strauss & Company. Michele frequently speaks and runs workshops on creative problem solving, collaboration, culture change, communication, and innovation for lawyers. Michele currently lives in Miami, FL.

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