About John
John Wade has worked with professional service firm leaders for over twenty-five years.
His work is predominantly with and Senior and Managing Partners, along with Practice Directors and other senior managers in legal service firms, who face the challenges of running a successful business in today’s rapidly changing and always challenging legal services environment.
John's long experience in the industry helps him work with clients to decide how to deal with their most difficult problems – and then implement those solutions. A breadth of knowledge gained from working with and coaching senior individuals in a number of firms of all sizes allows him to put problems into perspective, and bring context and best practice to client issues.
His particular niche is in managing change, through coaching, mentoring and leadership and management development. For many firms, leadership is the most difficult challenge – often because of a lack of training and support, and equally often because their leadership experience is limited to one firm, so lacking the braoder context of a business and its challenges. The individual, corporate and team coaching and mentoring support offered helps clients identify and resolve the issues they face; the management and leadership training available equips partners, fee-earners and managers with the skills, tools and techniques needed to manage difficulties.
Clients typically face challenges with agreeing and then implementing strategy; Succession planning; client management and retention; Business Development and Marketing; Change Management; difficult Partners; Conflict Resolution; Legal Process and Project Management; cash management including lock-up; and regulation and compliance.
John also offers behavioural profilign, using DISC; and NLP practitioner support
Experience
John has worked in the legal, professional services and financial services sectors throughout his working life. Along the way he has gained a breadth of experiences, successes and achievements - and failures, too - which help him understand the challenges faced by partnerships, people, leaders and legal service firms.
Particular experiences include:
Law firm profit turnaround, with a £1M difference in profit contribution within eighteen months
Business Development growth, with revenues quintupling over four years
Senior Partner coaching to deal with seemingly intractable problems, including introducing new governance rules, and conflict resolution
Managing Partner succession planning
Managing Partner coaching to resolve poorly performing Partners
Managing Partner support in Partner exit
Experienced Partner coaching to improve inter-Partner relationships
Experienced Partner coaching to resolve public speaking fears
New Partner coaching to manage people and projects
Senior Associate coaching to successfully apply for Partnership
Practice Manager coaching and mentoring into a new role
Finance Manager transition from Finance Controller
HR Manager coaching and mentoring from 'adminsitration focus' to 'operational and strategic focus'
BD Manager mentoring from 'conceptual' to 'operational' contribution
Process Improvement
Coaching style
Law firm management
Insurance broking firm management
Qualified (TCA) Coach
Qualified (IOE) Business Mentor
Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management
Fellow of the Institute of Consulting
MBA