Training Lawyers as Leaders

By Pat Wilson

It’s November, and the holidays are coming.  For many, that means time spent with family and friends, tables loaded with sumptuous food, holiday decorations, and all the trappings of a Hallmark holiday.  But that’s not how holidays are for everyone, including those who are grieving the loss of a loved one in the past year, those whose family relations are strained, those who are strained financially, among others.  Multiple studies and surveys document the stress and anxiety brought on by the holidays, with one survey indicating that 88%  of respondents considered the holidays the most stressful time of the year and Forbes reporting that one-third of Americans would rather skip the holidays. 

As if the holidays are not stressful enough, many law students must cope with the pressure of studying for final exams and the exhaustion that follows.   And practicing lawyers must rush to meet year-end deadlines and hope to have a chance to take some downtime. With the demands and fast pace of modern life, no one is immune from the challenges of creating the perfect holiday.

Our theme for the month of November is wellness.  We should always be mindful of both our physical and our mental health throughout the year.  No doubt, after the New Year, many of us will resolve to watch our diets, work out more, and develop better habits overall. But wellness is far more than getting enough sleep and cutting down on sweets.  Now, during one of the most stressful times of the year, when unrealistic expectations, fatigue, and the demands on everyone’s time cause depression rates to spike, is a perfect time to be sensitive to our own mental and physical health.

 As leaders and those who are training future leaders, we have an obligation to take care of ourselves and to model to those who we are training the importance of self-awareness and self-care.  Our responsibility, however, goes beyond that.  Our duty is to also be alert to the stress and anxiety our students or others we are training may be facing, recognizing that they may be unwilling or unable to acknowledge to themselves their struggles or may worry about the fallout of appearing weak.

Over the next few weeks, our blog posts will offer resources and suggestions for teaching and modeling wellness and self-care.

---

By Pat Wilson

The true mark of a leader is not so much how she leads when times are good, but how she responds in the face of adversity. In the past weeks, we all got a front-row seat to Simone Bile’s leadership when she was forced to limit her participation in the Olympics Women’s Gymnastics competition because of the “twisties.” I doubt that many predicted the profound effect she would have that would extend beyond the USA team, and even the gymnastics world. Forbes recently published an article that lists seven leadership lessons for business executives. 

Perhaps the most important take-away from all that happened in Women’s Gymnastics during the Olympics is, as the Forbes article suggests, to prioritize mental health. As leaders who are training other leaders, we must model for our students empathy and support when those with whom we work as students or colleagues are struggling. Just as importantly, we must prioritize our own mental health. It’s okay to step back when life’s challenges become overwhelming. It may be the best thing one can do for the team.

---

By Pat Wilson

Something interesting happens at my predominantly white church the Sundays we are slated to worship in the sanctuary of our sister church, a predominantly black congregation. This happens only every other year, with our sister church visiting our sanctuary in the off years. However, there are always a few from my church who shy away from attending the service at our sister church, expecting the service to be too different for their liking. But those who opt to attend church despite their hesitancy often note how enriched they were to experience something very different in terms of music and worship style as compared to our usual Sunday fare. Their openness to experiencing the culture of the black church gives them valuable insight into their neighbors who worship differently. And someone invariably remarks that those who opted to stay home missed something very special. Indeed, they did.

As leaders, it is important to maintain an openness to learning about and even experiencing different cultures as part of our goal to enhance cultural intelligence.  According to the experts, the personality trait of openness is generally believed to influence an individual’s ability to deal effectively with people from different cultural backgrounds.

That attitude of openness opens the door to new and different experiences and opportunities to gain an understanding of different cultures.  People in other cultures do things differently, have different views, and follow different traditions.  To fail to be open to learning about those cultures and, when possible, experiencing them, risks stunting one’s growth in cultural intelligence.  The “ugly American” who travels abroad only to spend her time criticizing the different customs and cultures because they aren’t like we do it back home, misses the richness of those customs and cultural traditions.  And one doesn’t have to leave the country to be the ugly American and to miss out on fantastic opportunities to connect with those from other cultures in our own backyards.

The good news is we don’t have to leave the country to enhance our knowledge of other cultures.  By all means, never miss the chance to visit a new place or to become more at home in a place you’ve visited before, but there are plenty of opportunities even locally.  Try the food at the new Ethiopian restaurant, spend a few hours at the Czech festival, visit the Brazilian art exhibit, or even visit the worship service of a different denomination or faith tradition.  And talk to the individuals you meet along the way.  People are generally happy to share their culture with outsiders who are respectful, non-judgmental, and genuinely curious. 

There are certainly plenty of books, blogs, and television shows that provide a glimpse into other cultures, but dare to venture outside your cultural comfort zone, and encourage those who you teach or otherwise influence to do the same.  Just as accepting failure as a learning opportunity is a vital component of a growth mindset, embracing uncomfortableness in new environments is a worthwhile endeavor as you open yourself to different cultural experiences. Maybe you’ll like what you experience, maybe not—and that’s okay. It’s the learning, and the openness to learning, that matters.

---