Creating a Culture of Leaders

Inspire Great Leaders Through Inclusiveness

For our firm, developing its future leaders is a business and strategic imperative. So when the question of how to best focus our leadership efforts was raised, we decided to create the Much Shelist Leadership Training Institute (the Institute) that would be open to everyone ' associates, partners, counsels and non-attorney directors ' regardless of practice group, level of seniority or assigned leadership position in the firm. Our vision was this: Make each attorney more aware of his or her own leadership style and effectiveness, and give each and every attorney the opportunity to develop leadership skills. This opt-in (or “train the willing participant”) approach yielded a high level of involvement at our firm, with over 50% of attorneys participating in some capacity. One rather surprising detail was that the level of participation was greatest among a group of attorneys who did not necessarily hold a leadership role in the firm or outside of the firm. Instead, this group of people identified leadership development as an area of professional and personal growth, and was committed to implementing and achieving leadership goals. What emerged was a group of up-and-coming leaders who demonstrated a willingness to develop their skills, enrich their personal and professional lives, and contribute to the success of the firm.