Leadership Academy: Leading and Lawyering with You in Mind

Calling new lawyers! The word is out, and the word is LEADERSHIP! The San Diego County Bar Association is a champion of leadership in our profession and understands that the community looks to lawyers for strong leadership, whether it be within a firm, on a board of directors, or in other community activities. With this appreciation solidified in its core values, the SDCBA adopted building lawyers as leaders as one of its six strategic priorities for 2020-2022 and set out to create a brand-new Leadership Academy in furtherance of this goal. After months of the Leadership Academy Sub-Committee’s careful designing and planning, the SDCBA launched its first-ever, long-awaited Leadership Academy in January of this year.

You might be asking yourself — what is this Leadership Academy, and is it for me? If you come with this curious mindset and will have been in practice for at least two years when the next cohort begins in January 2023, the answer is most definitely a resounding YES! The Academy is for SDCBA attorney members who want to commit to authenticity, courage, curiosity, and accountability. What each person will get out of it depends on their mindset: whether you want to grow in your current role, move into a new leadership role, develop key skills and relationships, or create a pathway for service to your community, you will benefit from the Leadership Academy. Regardless of the situation you find yourself in, your approach is key, and that is a recurring theme within the curriculum.

New lawyers are always looking for ways to stand out, for opportunities to grow and shine, and perhaps most importantly, to stay true to themselves because no one wants to find themselves trapped in a position that doesn’t align with their goals and values. This can be difficult when having to meet the requirements of your firm, and struggling for work-life balance, while still figuring out how you want to devote your time and what you want to accomplish in your career.

The Leadership Academy trains attorneys as effective, ethical, and service-oriented leaders, provides hands-on leadership training opportunities, and inspires attorneys to seek leadership positions within and beyond the legal community. The Academy brings together a diverse group of lawyers from all stages of their career, across various practice areas. This cohort dynamic provides opportunities for newer and more established lawyers to learn from each other, and work together. The Academy is an excellent opportunity to build relationships with other lawyer leaders and create a support system that will sustain you throughout your career. 

As part of the curriculum taught by community leaders and leadership experts, lawyers learn advanced skills in self-leadership, leading with empathy and compassion, authentic communication, conflicts and challenges, leadership recruiting, teamwork building, mindset training, management, and how to lead with purpose and vision. These topics all connect to encourage lawyers to make strong value-based decisions that honor who they are as lawyers, as leaders, and as individuals.

The Leadership Academy application deadline is September 14. The Academy is a six-month program that runs from January through June 2023.

To learn more about the Academy, please join us for one or both of the free info sessions hosted by the Leadership Academy Sub-committee. We are hosting a virtual session on August 19 at noon, and a hybrid session on August 31 at 5:30 p.m. You will be able to engage with attorneys who helped design the curriculum, who oversee the selection process, and who have recently graduated from the Academy.

For more information, including testimonials from 2021 Leadership Academy graduates, visit the Leadership Academy website.