If you attended Leadership NEW.0 in Chicago last Thursday you networked with peers, discovered feedback techniques, developed strategies to inform your actions as leaders, learned about firm leadership development programs and created a next generation leader named Cassandra.
The day began with an introduction by Chief Warrant Officer Four Russell "Rusty" Ferrell of the keynote speaker, Jack Rives, Executive Director and COO of the American Bar Association, and LTG (RET), former Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Air Force. Rusty also shared his connection with the Chief Warrant Officer Five Sharon T. Swartworth (deceased), the legacy of her leadership and its impact on ILTA and the Army. He said "Her unique ability to motivate, inspire, and lead people to excellence was simply unmatched. She built teams, bridged gaps between people, organizations, the corporate legal world and Army legal profession."
Jack Rives shared an anecdote about a Chicago Bulls game in the 90s when Michael Jordan scored his all-time high of 69 points. A reporter interview a rookie named Stacey King who had scored one point in the game. King said, “I’ll always remember this as the day Michael Jordan and I combined for 70 points.” Rives said, “You are a part of it, that team. You can either be a good contributor or not. Rives then highlighted some important attributes of a leader including professionalism, respect, integrity, determination enthusiasm. In addition, Rives encouraged participants to do some bold things even though they may result in mistakes and criticism. He reminded people that President Teddy Roosevelt said, “It’s not the critic who counts. It’s the person in the arena facing the challenges and overcoming them.”
Leader’s Lab with Matt Homann of Filament:
Matt took us through an exercise to remember our future. This helped us see the world of the next generation of leaders. We created our next leader, Cassandra. The conference participants offered characteristics, skill sets and more to imagine the next generation leader. They “designed” a knowledge manager who is a multi-cultural woman, aged 25 and leads a distributed workforce comprising members both older and younger than her. Participants shared ideas, expectations, concerns and hopes for the next generation of leaders.
Takeaways on Our Future:
- Those in charge of technology will have a massive impact on the practice of law in the future.
- Change has never been this fast in the legal business and will never be this slow again.
Takeaways for Developing the Next Generation Leader aka Cassandra
- Develop her skill gaps including face to face communication and listening
- From the audience, "Communication is what the listener does.”
- Help her effectively lead change management
- Teach her to give constructive feedback adaptable to the recipient
- Determine how today’s leaders can lead by example in a digital age
- Help Cassandra improve her interpersonal skills
- Don’t think “She’s young and has no responsibilities.” 25 year old Cassandra has responsibilities. They simply differ from the responsibilities of those in their 40s, 50s and 60s.
Leading Through Change and Innovation by Eric Anderson, Erin Baxendale, Tracy Elmblad and Paul Hogan and moderated by TJ Johnson
Tracy, Eric, Erin and Paul shared real-world stories of challenges and changes and how they prevailed. They advised on best practices for leading through change and to develop better innovation.
Tracy Elmblad stressed the importance of optimism and empathy in times rife with challenges. She found her team followed her lead and needed her to embrace the change. She shared a motto she follows, “You have to participate in your own rescue.”
Eric Anderson encouraged the participants to seek opportunities by volunteering and listening for the phrase, “I wish we had…” or “I wish we could…” He also stressed the importance of looking for opportunities outside of your department to expand your knowledge of the whole business. He recommended documentation projects as great opportunities to stand out, learn and improve your organization.
Erin Baxendale told stories about two employees. The first had an entry level position and a large learning curve in legal but showed initiative and tried new things. The second had a nice title, salary and office but asked for a better title, salary and office before agreeing to take on something new. Erin recommends everyone “consider how you position yourself for your next role.”
Paul Hogan seconded Erin’s comment. He said, “You’ll already be doing half the job before you get the title and money.” He also shared his interest effective delegation as a tool to foster emerging leaders. He stressed the importance of coaching emerging leaders on how best to take on new projects and complete them.
Takeaways:
- Embrace Change
- Look for “Gaps.” These are opportunities.
- Take Initiative. Raise Your Hand
- Be Empathetic/Listen
- Play to Your Strengths-Consider What You Like to Do
- Understand Your Weaknesses
- Look for Mentors or as Erin said, “Find your person!”
- Offer to Do Documentation and Training Across Departments
- Build Effective Relationships
- Be Positive/Avoid Drama
- Create a Safe Environment and Support, Mentor and Coach.
Leading Through Differences: Giving and Receiving Feedback by Scott Cohen and Maureen Durack and moderated by Joy HeathRush
This session opened with the Tide Stain Commercial . Scott shared the internal dialog of each character. The younger interviewee (with the satin on his shirt) wonders “Why isn’t this guy listening?” The more seasoned interviewer wonders “Why didn’t that guy wear a jacket?!” For feedback, one size does not fit all. We must understand how to communicate clearly and consistently to a diverse and distributed workforce to affect change.
The panelists emphasized the need to know what motivates your team. As an example, participants in Leadership NEW.0 were asked to rank the top 3 most important outcomes a person may receive for work. They ranked personal growth first, achievement second and family life third. Other options not ranked as high included independence, recognition, leisure time, power, prestige, money, pressure, self-esteem and security.
Scott and Maureen discussed the differences of feedback from your superiors and to your team. Maureen reports to the most senior person in the firm and learned he has little time and expects her to understand and act on his feedback. She said, “At the highest level, it is rarely direct. I need to be aware of what is going on around me to know what is working and what is not working.” Scott said for his team it helps to understand their perspective and frame the problem. He believes leaders must create a trusting relationship with their teams. He creates trust by letting his team own and solve problems. Maureen also urged leaders to take the time to offer positive feedback.
At the end of the session, panelists and the moderator discussed gender and feedback. All agreed a whole day of sessions could be dedicated this topic. Scott urged participants to be consistent and read a Harvard Business Review article, “Research: Vague Feedback is Holding Women Back.” Feedback may be the single most important thing you do, not as a manager but as a leader.
Takeaways or Nuggets:
- Lay the groundwork before giving feedback
- Establish goals and outcomes
- Be consistent in your delivery
- Minimize surprises
- Focus on facts, not perceptions
- Remove the words “just” and “I’m sorry” from your vocabulary
- Know your hot buttons and when they may make you overreact
- In our global economy with a distributed workforce, be aware of cultural norms
- Find time to give meaningful positive feedback
- Remember, “The only person I can change is me.”
Mentoring Our Next Leaders by Jessica Robinson, Marcia Stokes and Doreen Watt and moderated by Rick Krzyminski
The panelists shared the benefits and lessons learned in creating leadership development training and mentoring programs.
Doreen Watt’s firm created a leadership development program with a success planning component. After working for the firm for one year, employees can join the 24 month program. The program starts with identifying a position of interest. Participants in the program may need additional training or certification to be completed besides the regular work load. Doreen said this program has helped the firm identify and develop emerging leaders.
Marcia Stokes created a program at her firm after not noticing a gap in support and training after a promotion. The program teaches people to manage for high performance, learn the Ogletree Deakins management “way” and manage like leader, managing to the firm’s vision. The program has buy-in at the highest levels and provides senior leaders as mentors to junior staff. When developing a program, she warned participants, “Don't start with what's important to me; start with what's important to the leadership.”
Jessica Robinson’s firm has no formal leadership development program. She noticed this gap and created a program for her department. Her program develops everyone with a recognition that leadership need not be the only path. She uses a “step-up method.” She encourages her team to step-up for opportunities to learn and try something new and offers many touch points for communication with her distributed workforce.
ILTA volunteers formed a project team with 7 members to structure ILTA's offering for mentoring. Stay tuned for more on this initiative soon.
Takeaways:
- Provide Opportunities for Leaders and Employees to interact with each other
- Know your organization and be deliberate about how you implement your program
- Develop and grow team members skills regardless of whether it’s related to a specific position/job
Value Gained by Participants
Peter Qumsiyeh of Wilmer Hale said he valued most “the look into the future with a recognition of the critical tools and processes that may not be critical in 5 years.” He collected some great quotes from speakers including “there are no degrees of honesty” and “change has never been this fast, and will never be this slow again”.
Dean Leung of iManage shared this takeaway, “With competing needs between industries for the best and brightest talent, it’s critical that ILTA members and vendors support the development of the next generation of leaders to support the practice of law.”
Eric Pulsipher of Baker Hostetler shared his experience, “Attending Leadership New.0 proved valuable through the workshop and the intimate setting with industry peers to work through past and identify potential future hurdles, handling feedback – receiving and delivery, and gathering helpful information regarding mentoring programs to shape ILTA’s own peer support/development program. The speakers were great and it was a great chance to network with some quality people.”
You can now access Leadership NEW.0 Recordings and Storyboards from each presentation.