When someone becomes a successful lawyer, an assumption often follows.

That the qualities which helped them succeed — intelligence, technical expertise, hard work and the ability to impress seniors — will naturally make them a good supervisor or leader.

The assumption is so common that often goes untested.

Capability is treated as if it is a single thing.

As if being excellent at one aspect of the job means you will automatically be effective at all the others.

We don't think that's true.

In law, technical capability is often highly valued and heavily rewarded.

Other capabilities can receive far less attention.

Yet modern legal practice increasingly depends on them:

Creating psychological safety.
Managing performance.
Giving feedback.
Supporting wellbeing.
Navigating complex human dynamics.

Someone can manage a complex legal matter whilst their difficulty managing their moods puts their team on edge.

They can be trusted with sensitive client work whilst avoiding a sensitive conversation they need to have with a colleague.

They can perform brilliantly under pressure whilst failing to support someone else who is under pressure.

They can be an outstanding lawyer technically and still be a poor colleague, supervisor or leader.

None of those things are contradictions.

They simply require different capabilities.

The challenge is that firms often promote people into positions where those capabilities have real consequences whilst assuming they will emerge naturally.

Sometimes they do.

Often they don't.

So people try busking their way through situations they could have navigated with clarity and confidence.

Capability is not simply an individual issue either.

Firms create conditions that either develop capability or stifle it:
What is role modelled.
What is valued.
What feedback people receive.
What gets rewarded.
What support is available.

All of these things influence whether or not capability develops.

At Arrisan, we believe capability is learnable.

The question is not whether people have it.

The question is whether we are helping them build it.