Today was one of those days at Merlin Law Group that reminded me that a law firm is built by far more than lawyers, cases, verdicts, settlements, and insurance policies. It is built by people. Today, our firm celebrated Keona Williams and her 25 years with Merlin Law Group.
Keona’s parents were there. Her husband, Wendell, was there. Her two daughters were there. Our attorneys and staff gathered together to recognize someone who has profoundly impacted not only this law firm, but also many of the people who have been fortunate enough to work alongside her.
Five years ago, on Keona’s 20th anniversary, I wrote that she deserved a standing ovation in Keona Williams Deserves a Standing Ovation For Helping Policyholders and Merlin Law Group For 20 Years. I noted then that she had started as the assistant to our receptionist and worked her way through virtually every level of responsibility until becoming our Chief Operating Officer. I also wrote about how much of Merlin Law Group’s success and so many of our “high fives” resulted from Keona’s hard work, passion, and dedication.
Five years later, I think I understand her contribution even better. Keona’s story is not really about climbing an organizational chart. It is about becoming a great teammate. There is a tremendous difference.
Titles can be given. Authority can be delegated. But respect has to be earned. Keona has earned it.
Among attorneys and staff, she is one of the most respected leaders in our law firm. This did not happen because the letters “COO” eventually appeared after her name. It happened thousands of times before, often in moments when Keona alone saw something that needed to be done and did it. She helped somebody who needed help. She solved a problem before others even realized one existed. She challenged us to become better than we were.
Keona is what I call a Contender. A Contender does not spend much time worrying about whether something technically falls within a job description. A Contender asks, “What does the team need?”
A Contender keeps learning. A Contender accepts responsibility. A Contender does not wait for somebody else to make things better. A Contender makes the people around her better. This last-mentioned quality may be Keona’s greatest gift.
For years, I have said that I mentored Keona. There is some truth to that. I have offered plenty of suggestions over the years. Keona listens carefully, takes the best of what I offer, improves upon it, and then usually carries the idea further than I envisioned.
The more accurate truth, however, is that Keona largely mentored herself. And, somewhere along the way, she started mentoring me. She pushes me. She questions me. She looks out for me. She offers suggestions on how I could do things better. She wants me to become a better leader, and she wants Merlin Law Group to become a better law firm.
Great teammates do that. They do not simply tell you what you want to hear. They care enough to tell you what you need to hear. They do not protect your ego. They protect the team’s mission.
This was part of what I wanted everybody at Merlin Law Group to understand during today’s celebration. We were honoring Keona, but there is a lesson in her career for every person in our firm.
Leadership is not a title. Leadership is behavior. You can be the newest employee in an organization and demonstrate leadership. You can be a receptionist, legal assistant, paralegal, attorney, accountant, administrator, or COO and demonstrate leadership. Leadership starts when the success of the team becomes as important to you as your own success.
Keona has demonstrated something else that is equally important. Excellence and caring are not opposites. You can have extraordinarily high standards and still have a big heart. You can hold people accountable and still want desperately for them to succeed. You can demand better while helping somebody become better.
I also could not help but look at her family today. Twenty-five years is an enormous portion of a person’s life. During those years, I have watched Keona grow as a professional and leader. I have also watched her marry, raise two beautiful daughters, and become a leader within her own family. Her daughters are now impressive young women in their own right. I know how proud Keona is of them. She should also occasionally stop and recognize how much of what they have become reflects the example they have watched their mother set.
Over those same 25 years, Keona became part of my family as well. She knows my children. She knows the people closest to me. She knows my parents. Our families have shared experiences together that have nothing to do with insurance claims or running a law firm.
At some point after enough years, enough challenges, enough successes, enough hurricanes, enough trips, enough family experiences, and enough life together, the words “employee” and “boss” simply do not describe the relationship anymore. Twenty-five years is not merely a work anniversary. It is a quarter century of life shared.
There was one point I tried to explain in my speech today, and I wanted our entire firm to remember it after today’s celebration. Keona’s anniversary belongs to her. But her example belongs to all of us. Each of us can choose to become a better teammate. Every one of us can decide to learn a little more, care a little more, take greater responsibility, help somebody else succeed, and make the organization better because we showed up that day.
Leadership and culture develop this manner. Ultimately, that is how great organizations are built.
Keona started at Merlin Law Group as the assistant to the receptionist. Twenty-five years later, she is our Chief Operating Officer and the inner glue of this law firm. Still, the most impressive part of her story is that she became somebody people trust when things matter. There is no greater leadership title than that.
Happy 25th anniversary, Keona. From me, my family, and all of us at Merlin Law Group, thank you! You have made us want to be better in our jobs and as people.
Thought For The Day
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
—Helen Keller
