The Baltimore City Group began 2015 with a professional development-focused program, led by Executive Coach Anna Rappaport of Excelleration Coaching. Anna’s presentation addressed many leadership issues that legal marketing and business development professionals face. According to the Harvard Business School, “Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.” Anna helped the attendees to understand how some very common leadership issues may stem from miscommunication, a fast-paced environment, or lack of perspective in certain situations. Some of the valuable questions she raised included:
- Are you expressing yourself clearly enough to your attorneys? Anna explained that when asking for something you must do so in a way that others view as an opportunity. She suggested an example of asking for a “seat at the table” and if the attorneys really understood why a seat is requested. How exactly that will help you do your job more efficiently and effectively?
- Are you relating to your attorneys’ personalities and values when you ask them to complete a task? Are you helping them to understand why they are the best person to write the article or to speak on the panel, and not that you are simply creating more work for them?
- Are you making plans for the things that are important parts of your life? A five or ten year career plan? A plan to manage your direct reports? A plan to manage your lawyers? Are you reviewing those plans on a regular basis and making sure you stick to them?
- Are you miscommunicating with one of your attorneys based on an assumption that one or the other (or both) of you have made about something? What situation spurred that assumption, and are you able to better relate to the other person after acknowledging it?
- Do you ask others for feedback on your leadership skills? Can you accept both positive and negative feedback, and do you know who you would go to in order to receive that feedback?
- Are you aware of your leadership deficits? Taking into account the importance of sustainability, do you incorporate physical wellness into your daily life?
- Do you surround yourself with others who support your leadership? Do you have more mentors (people who will help you to learn and grow by way of their experiences) or more sponsors (people who will go to bat for you for a promotion or added responsibility) in your professional life right now?
Anna’s anecdotes, explanations, and real-life examples shed much light on the topic of leadership and how we can all take a step back and evaluate our current leadership skills and hone them to be more productive. This program was a fantastic way for the Baltimore City Group to kick off 2015 with a positive outlook. Anna offered ideas that could be implemented right away to enrich our own leadership and effectiveness in our jobs.
This program was also videocast simultaneously to LMA Capital Chapter members in DC. The Baltimore City Group hopes to continue this reciprocity for future programs, when possible.
About the Baltimore City Group
The LMA Capital Chapter believes that geography should never be a barrier to professional development. In 2008, we formed the Baltimore City Group to expand programming and increase networking opportunities for our members located near Baltimore, Maryland. City Group members are full members of the chapter and are encouraged to participate in events and committees at the national, chapter and city group level.
The Baltimore City Group has an exciting calendar planned for this year. If you are interested in attending any of the following events, please contact the city group leader, Jenna Schiappacasse, at jschiappacasse@rosenbergmartin.com or (410) 649-4985. Please keep an eye on the Baltimore City Group page for more details on upcoming events as they become available.
March 5, 2015 – Spring Social at The Center Club
April 23, 2015 – Program #2 – Highlights from the LMA Annual Conference
May (TBD), 2015 – Videocast of DC Program
June 4, 2015 – Summer Social
August 5, 2015 – Program #3
September (TBD), 2015 – Videocast of DC Program
October 7, 2015 – Program #4
November 19, 2015 – Holiday Social
By Jenna Schiappacasse, Director of Marketing at Rosenberg Martin Greenberg, LLP, for the January/February 2015 issue of the Capital Ideas Newsletter.