The costs of partner underperformance
Many firms think about underperformance in terms of financial results. In our experience, the biggest costs are often elsewhere and largely invisible until significant damage has already been done.
This series explores those hidden costs through three fictional partners — Ace, Bill and Wolf — and their colleagues. It is drawn from patterns observed over three decades of sharp-end experience, advising organisations and leading the teams that deal with the fallout. A fourth piece examines the costs of mismanagement, alongside a practical framework for addressing these patterns before they cause lasting damage.
Ace
Competent, hardworking and successful — yet creating problems she cannot see.
Read the guide →Bill
Strong numbers and happy clients become cover for behaviour that costs more than his billings.
Read the guide →Wolf
His decisions define the firm's real values and create the conditions for a myriad of problems.
Read the guide →This guide is adapted from a chapter Graham Browning wrote for Managing Partner Performance: Strategies for Transforming Underperforming Partners. The fictional characters bring to life some of the most common behaviours encountered over three decades advising organisations on difficult people issues — alongside the consequences that follow when those behaviours are ignored or enabled.
