There is nothing wrong with powerful partners lobbying to get the best possible staff for “their” projects – indeed they should act this way. But someone needs to be on the other side of that discussion, thinking of the good of the practice as a whole, asking such questions as “Why do you need the office superstar on this one? Couldn’t you take one of our less qualified people who needs to work on a project like yours and train them? Maybe you could lower your project costs and also build skills for our practice by doing that.” It is through such negotiations that the practice leader has the chance to really control the trade-offs between profits, quality, skill building, and motivation. And if the practice leader isn’t doing it, then someone else (or something else) is really managing the practice.

Excerpted from ‘Managing the Professional Service Firm’ by David Maister, page 184