Craig's Story

Craig Nicol is managing partner of Thorntons, a leading Scottish law firm. Since joining Vistage seven years ago, the 500-strong firm has more than doubled in size. Here Craig explains how focusing on his own personal and leadership skills have been instrumental to Thorntons’ success

“I first heard about Vistage from a friend, a Vistage member and MD of a large firm. He explained that Vistage had a proven approach to developing the skills and competencies of its members which, in turn, had a significant impact on business growth. At the time I was fairly new to my managing partner role, having previously worked as a transaction lawyer where I led a legal team. As managing partner it’s my duty to lead and guide on decision-making and implementation, but I was short on business experience. I knew that if I wanted to deliver the ambitions I had for the business, I’d need some advice and support. Thorntons was also embarking on a five-year strategic growth plan, so Vistage with its results-driven approach to helping business leaders identify growth opportunities and plans and assisting them in that journey, was exactly what I felt we needed then."

I joined Vistage expecting something far more akin to a business networking group, but I was quickly proved wrong. Firstly, you get to sit around a table with perhaps a dozen or so chief executives, all with different backgrounds and experiences. Secondly, you have an amazing chair, who not only delivers invaluable one-to-one coaching sessions but hosts group discussions where members discuss their biggest challenges.

A meeting of minds

I know every member looks forward to our meetings, which are a chance to share the pressures and stresses of running a business together. The meetings can be challenging, as my peers and coach, Paul Pinson, never shy from questioning and challenging you, especially as you process an issue. This has proven invaluable many times, but especially when I led Thorntons through an acquisition.

I’d thrown myself into the acquisition 110% and came out of it absolutely ‘done.’ During my one-to-one with Paul shortly afterwards he said: “you need to put your own oxygen mask on first, right now, before you take the business any further forward”.

“Vistage has helped me develop the strong sense of individual purpose needed to achieve my ambitious professional and personal goals, and the skills to help others achieve theirs.”

Paul knew that if I was going to deliver the next part of the acquisition, which is the important part of embedding it within the business, I needed to take care of myself first. I now offer that same advice to others that I see are struggling a wee bit.

That’s the great thing about Vistage. Because everyone has your best interests at heart and there’s always someone in your group that has experienced what you’re going through, you’re never short of great advice. The exception of course is Covid, which no-one had previously experienced. Luckily, we have been able to navigate the challenges of the pandemic together.

Navigating Covid together

Thorntons is in the fortunate position of having a fabulous team selling specialists skills so we easily shifted to remote work. However, just like every other business in the land, we had real challenges, mainly because a lot of our markets shut down. The courts closed in Scotland which isn’t good for a law firm, as did the property market, which wasn’t great for our conveyancing and estate agency business. The Vistage group quickly got into the rhythm of regular drop-in meetings which enabled us to face the challenges together and develop solutions and strategies for coping. That was extremely important for me in the early stages of lockdown.

Having a strong brand purpose has also helped to keep our business on track. Our purpose is to ‘help our cliens, colleagues and our communities succeed’ which is very powerful for a law firm. I don’t think we would have been able to step back and think about our purpose as an organisation without the influence Vistage has had on me personally.

In fact, Vistage has been quite transformative for me. Being at the top can be a lonely place, and even with a strong and supportive board and senior leadership team around you, there are times when you are going to have to make some tough decisions. As someone who’s very goal driven, both personally and professionally, Vistage has helped me develop the strong sense of individual purpose needed to achieve my ambitious professional and personal goals, and the skills to help others achieve theirs.