I believe in capitalism and free enterprise.  I have a business degree before law.  My practicing years were spent helping clients increase their profits… managing partner years helping my partners increase theirs.  You’ll get no socialistic psychobabble from me.

I encourage you to assimilate the compelling evidence that increasing compensation in the hope of enhancing performance actually backfires.  Law firm leaders need to understand when money motivates and when it does not.   In fact, “too much” money demotivates.   Get an introduction to the science that supports this hypothesis in the Ted Talk below.

Once the basic compensation is right, there are better ways to motivate.  If not money, then what?  According to Dan Pink, the presenter in this Ted Talk, the three motivating elements for those who work with complexity, like lawyers, are:

• Autonomy
• Mastery
• Purpose

PUNCHLINE: Investing 18 minutes and 40 seconds may start you on the path to leading your firm to legendary performance, your lawyers staff and clients to legendary satisfaction and, last but not least,  your firm to legendary profits.