Why Self Leadership Is the Must-Read Book for Law Firm Owners Who Want a Stronger, Smarter Team

TLTurner Group
Jun 25
5 min read

Updated: Jun 26

If you’re a law firm owner who constantly feels like you’re the only one solving problems—this book might just change your firm.

Leadership can be a lonely place. Especially in law.

You’re managing clients, mentoring associates, handling operations, reviewing trust accounts, and oh—still practicing law.

At some point, it starts to feel like everything depends on you. Every decision. Every fix. Every fire to put out.

But here’s the thing: You can’t grow a healthy, sustainable firm if you’re the only one who takes ownership.

That’s why this month, our team dove into a book that I believe every managing partner and legal team lead should read: Self Leadership by Dr. Spencer Johnson.

Why This Book (And Why Now)?

Each month, someone on our team selects a book for our internal reading challenge—something relevant to where we are as a business.

When it was my turn to choose, I asked a simple but powerful question:

“What mindset is holding us back from our next level of growth?”

We weren’t lacking tools. We had great people. But we were facing a common leadership trap: reliance on top-down problem solving.

People were defaulting to me—or our directors—for all the answers.

That’s not scalable. And it’s not sustainable. So I asked: “How do we become a more solution-oriented team?”

Enter Self Leadership.

What the Book Is About (And Why It Resonates with Law Firm Owners)

Self Leadership is part of the popular One Minute Manager series. But this one doesn’t just speak to theory—it tells a story.

We follow a marketing manager at an ad agency who, at the very beginning of the book, bombs a major client presentation.

The feedback?

“This is horrible. I don’t like it.”

Suddenly, the spiral starts:

“The creative team didn’t support me.”
“The client wouldn’t answer key questions.”
“The timeline was too tight.”

Sound familiar?

It’s the same blame game we often see in law firm culture:

“The client didn’t respond to our document requests.”
“The associate didn’t follow up.”
“The software glitched.”
“Intake dropped the ball.”

And sometimes, those things are true. But if finger-pointing is the norm, you’ll never build a self-led team.

That’s when I realized:

“If the team isn’t showing ownership, the real issue might be my leadership.”

Real Talk: The Leadership Trap in Legal Teams

Let’s be honest. As the managing partner or founding attorney, you probably are the most capable person in the firm. That’s how you built the practice.

But that’s exactly what traps many firm owners.

Instead of building capacity, we build dependency.

You become the problem solver. The fixer. The gatekeeper.

It feels good—for a while. You’re needed. Indispensable. But eventually:

You burn out.
Your team stagnates.
Your growth stalls.

Self Leadership breaks that pattern by flipping the question.

Instead of asking:

“Why aren’t they stepping up?”

It asks:

“What example are you setting?” “How are you helping them develop the mindset to lead themselves?”

A Story That Sticks: The Business Card Challenge

One part of the book I’ll never forget is a simple challenge the mentor gives:

“Take a business card and cut a hole big enough to fit around your head.”

At first, everyone in the story says it’s impossible. The card is too small. The task makes no sense.

But eventually, someone solves it.

The message?

We often assume something is impossible before we’ve explored what’s actually possible.

That mirrors what we see in law firm operations all the time:

“We can’t automate this.”
“We can’t hire right now.”
“We can’t delegate billing or trust accounting.”

Those are business card moments. And like the book shows, the only way to break through is to reframe the question:

“How could we make this work?”

A Real-World Example from Our Business

We run a finance firm that supports law offices across the country. One of our top-performing podcasts is The Finance and Accounting Show.

For months, I wanted to bring it back—but our team was already producing over 45 pieces of content per week across platforms.

The initial feedback from the team?

“We don’t have capacity. It’ll distract us.”

So we paused.

But the idea kept resurfacing. It felt important. So I asked the magic question:

“What would need to be true for us to do this well?”

That one shift sparked creative thinking:

We shortened podcast episodes to 15 minutes.
We used AI tools like Descript to automate editing and clipping.
We created a streamlined system for show notes, graphics, and repurposed content.

Now? We’re producing even more content in less time—with less stress.

That’s the power of self-leadership thinking.

How This Applies to Law Firm Owners Like You

Here’s how this shows up in law firms we support:

Situation 1: Missed Client Deadlines

🛑 Old response: “The client didn’t send the info.”

✅ Self-leadership lens: “Did we proactively follow up? Did we offer a client checklist? Can we create reminders?”

Situation 2: Overwhelmed Managing Partner

🛑 Old response: “No one else can handle this.”

✅ Self-leadership lens: “What SOPs can I create? Who can I train to take over 80% of this?”

Situation 3: Billing Bottlenecks

🛑 Old response: “The associate didn’t submit their hours.”

✅ Self-leadership lens: “What’s the feedback loop? Are we coaching time tracking consistently?”

Building a Self-Leadership Culture at Your Firm

Here’s the hard truth: Culture isn’t what you say. It’s what you tolerate.

If your team is stuck in blame mode, you can’t fix that with a memo.

You fix it by:

Modeling ownership in your own behavior.
Coaching people through mindset shifts.
Reinforcing creative thinking over finger-pointing.
Rewarding solutions, not just problems identified.

And the first step is helping your team see a better way.

That’s why Self Leadership works—it doesn’t just explain it. It shows it.

5 Key Takeaways for Law Firm Owners

Every problem has a root mindset. Before you fix the process, check the thinking behind it.
Blame is a comfort, not a solution. It's easier to find fault than to find fixes—but solutions scale, blame doesn’t.
People need permission to think bigger. Just like the business card example, your team may not even know what’s possible.
Systems don’t replace leadership. You need both—strong processes and people willing to own outcomes.
You set the tone. Your response to mistakes, challenges, and resistance shapes your firm’s culture more than any mission statement ever will.

Bonus: How to Use This Book with Your Team

Want to build a team-wide culture of ownership?

Here’s how to introduce Self Leadership to your firm:

Assign it as a team read. It’s short—about 2 hours on audio.
Host a lunch-and-learn. Discuss the business card story and how it applies to your firm.
Use roleplays. Have team members reframe real issues with “What would make this work?”
Reward ownership. Celebrate people who bring solutions—not just problems.
Lead by example. When things go wrong, model taking responsibility first.