Seize the moment: lessons on navigating uncertainty and change

Uncertainty. A word that has characterised the legal market, wider economy and indeed the whole world over the past few years.

I took over as managing partner of Browne Jacobson at the start of the Covid pandemic. For my first two years as a leader, I hadn’t known anything other than deep uncertainty. That period saw all firms having to course-correct and make unprecedented strategic and operational decisions on a very regular basis.

I naively thought that things would settle as we emerged from lockdowns and returned to ‘business as usual’. What I know now is that there is no such thing.

But despite that uncertainty, our business has delivered sustained organic growth, with turnover up nearly 50% since 2020. We have driven improvements in margin and been able to make significant investments over that period, expanding and renewing our office network, launching a new brand and website, replacing our practice management system, and investing in artificial intelligence (AI).

Choosing which growth opportunities to back

There are many lessons to be learned from the events of the past few years, but over-caution is not one of them. For the firms that have most successfully navigated uncertainty, those lessons are driving profitable growth.

We launched a new strategy in 2020 with a clear articulation of our purpose, ambition and values. The core elements of that strategy have been a ‘North Star’ for our firm. We have a national office footprint, with a broad practice supporting business and the public sector across multiple service lines and sub-sectors.  Our challenge is not really a lack of growth opportunities, it is choosing which ones to back.

Clarity of purpose facilitates quick go/no-go decision-making, whether opportunities are long planned or more opportunistic. In an industry not known for its pace of change, this can be a real competitive advantage. Making sure all our people understand our core strategic aims and values, and that they drive decisions across our business is a never-ending role for a leader, empowering people to play their part in expanding our business within a clear framework.

There are many lessons to be learned from the events of the past few years, but over-caution is not one of them.

Our growth journey has seen us expand our network into new territories, opening in Dublin in 2022 and Cardiff in 2023. While the key drivers for each location were different, they both contribute to the core pillars of our strategy.

Our new offices ensure we have broad network coverage to support businesses and organisations across the UK and Ireland, are delivering our commitments to work with clients at the forefront of society’s biggest issues and forging and facilitating connections that add real value to our clients and contacts. Seeing the Welsh and Irish links we have uncovered, and the opportunities those have presented, has been particularly exciting.

Investing in people remains a priority

Of course, in a people business there is no long-term growth without continued investment in people development and wellbeing. Our partnership with O Shaped has made a huge difference here.

O Shaped aims to develop lawyers into more well-rounded professionals, providing a real focus on original thinking and identifying opportunities for us and our clients to add real value, leading to further sustainable growth.

More change and uncertainty is inevitable. Of course, this will provide firms with new challenges. Our industry, though, is also at the centre of supporting our clients through that uncertainty.

For those firms that are clear in their strategy, live their values and look after their people, there will be many opportunities not just to survive, but to thrive and to seize the opportunities that lie ahead.