Leadership

Leadership

What is leadership?

It is pretty much impossible to create a concise, universally-accepted definition of leadership. Most of us have seen examples of good and bad leadership, but when it comes to pinning down just what it is that makes a good leader, we usually end up with a list of behaviours rather than a simple definition.

There has probably been more time spent trying to define the difference between a leader and a manager than almost any other management topic. Often these definitions glorify the role of the leader at the expense of the role of the manager, which is unfortunate as an organisation requires skilled practitioners in both areas in order to remain successful. One analogy to clarify the difference between the manager and the leader is this: a manager is the driver of the car trying to get from A to B and the leader is the person sat alongside them with the map giving directions. The leader can see where the car needs to be going and

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Latest Practice Management News

EHRC to update legal guidance after watershed sex ruling

Law360: The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is making moves to update legal guidance on single-sex spaces following a ruling on 16 April 2025 by the UK Supreme Court that the legal definition of sex in anti-discrimination law covers only biological sex amid calls to update critical legislation.

Supreme Court holds that EqA 2010 terms ‘man’, ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ refer to biological sex (For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers)

The UK Supreme Court has unanimously held that the terms ‘man’, ‘woman’ and ’sex' in the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) refer to biological sex rather than ’certificated sex'. the court held that individuals with Gender Recognition Certificates (GRC) do not fall within their acquired gender's definition under EqA 2010. The judgment clarifies that trans people remain protected from discrimination through gender reassignment provisions and can claim sex discrimination if perceived as their acquired gender. The court determined a biological interpretation was necessary for coherent application of EqA 2010 provisions across areas including single-sex spaces, sports participation and pregnancy rights. Dr Michael Foran and Joanne Moseley comment on the implications of the judgment.

SRA releases revised guidance on race equality in law firms

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) published updated guidance on race equality in the workplace on 9 April 2025. The extensively revised guidance provides detailed frameworks for law firms to address representation disparities, noting that while minority ethnic lawyer representation has increased to 19% in 2023, only 8% of partners in large firms come from minority ethnic backgrounds. The guidance covers multiple aspects including workforce data monitoring, recruitment practices, diversity target-setting, and addressing the ethnicity stay gap—where minority ethnic lawyers' average tenure is 18 months shorter than white colleagues.

First-Tier Tribunal rules fine issued by the Pensions Regulator is unfair (M Rose Construction Ltd v TPR)

Pensions analysis: The First-Tier Tribunal (‘the Tribunal’) has ruled that the Pensions Regulator (TPR) acted ‘unfairly’ in issuing a penalty to a building company (‘the Appellant company.’) for failing to comply with its automatic enrolment duties in compliance with workplace pension law under the Pensions Act 2008 (PA 2008). The Tribunal found that having satisfied itself that the precondition for issuing a penalty had been met, TPR then declined the opportunity to consider the evidence and argument put forward on behalf of the Appellant company. The Tribunal commented that TPR entirely discounted the alleged facts without either seeking confirmation of the facts as alleged, nor querying their veracity and weight. In taking this approach, TPR was said to have ignored the newness and scale of the company, the possible impact of the ‘extraordinary’ coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on such a small, new organisation, as well as ignoring the statement of the impact of a bereavement. Written by Rowena Wisniewska Sethi, barrister at 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square Chambers.

View Practice Management by content type :

News