Our managing attorney sets her own salary. I trust her to do the right thing.

“That’s letting the fox guard the hen house” is the response I get when I explain this to other lawyers.

I suppose that’s true.

But the managing attorney is already running the henhouse. If I can’t trust her to set her salary fairly, how can I trust her to manage the business?

Of course, I have veto authority. But I’ll never have to use it. She’d know if she set it too high. She runs the business. She knows the numbers. She’d know that I’d have to say no. Then she’d likely leave. But that would have been her plan anyway. I know, it’s complicated. But it’s really not.

Either you trust your people or you don’t. If you can trust them with your clients, your clients’ assets, and your clients’ futures, then you’d better be willing to trust them with yours.

Yes, it’s the fox guarding the henhouse. Don’t do it unless you trust the fox. And if you don’t trust the fox, then it’s time for a new fox.