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Kellye L. Walker at the easel board during Talent Development breakout

LCLD Talent Development Committee
Day-Two Working Session: Oct. 8, 2020

Highlights of the 90-minute brainstorm and planning session.

Among the highlights of the Talent Development Committee’s work session:

The skills needed for success go beyond “technical” skills. They include: comfort with financials, an easy but powerful speaking style, general savvy about real-world business issues, relationship-building skills.

Coca-Cola selects two high-potential lawyers for “Catalyst team” who go overseas and work on assigned business project.  All teams present at end of period.

For the launch of the LCLD Fellows Program…the “first year’s class”…we’re to get more than 200 people to network, communicate, and, next, grow future participants.

(The committee meeting, led by Vice Chair Geoff Kelly and consultant Werten Bellamy, broke out into roundtable sessions.

The topics included:

  • High Value Interactions
  • Sightlines/Best ways of relationship-building
  • Business Partnering
  • Member Engagement for LCLD


Feedback From Round Table Discussions:

  • Ingredients of successful program:
    • Network building: a learned skill
    • Sustained relationships
    • Teaching communication
    • The discipline of learning socialization skills
    • Recreational/social aspects of career success

 

  • A caution for the soon-to-launch Institute: “Don’t overreach; be clear on mission”
  • Not just “one-way teaching.” Needs to be “two-way”: capture and leverage talents that Fellows themselves have
  • What does the firm expect?  What happens to hours participating in program?  What is selection process?  What is impact on professional progress?
  • Expectations of program – how do we define success?
    • Letting Fellows know that everyone has made mistakes, not derailing, add to journey
    • “Demystify stature” (great phrase) – personalize leaders
  • Career path vs. career drag strip (more great language!). This is a journey.
  • Permission to disengage – purposeful detours

 

  • What’s in it for each of the two categories of Fellow (from law firm and from corporate legal department)
  • For both categories:
    • Leadership skills
    • Communication
    • Learn to collaborate
    • Relationship-building
    • “Personal brand”
      • Behavioral interviewing
      • Personality assessments
      • Cultural competencies
    • Mastering crisis management
  • In-House Fellows:
    • Exposure to senior management
    • Platform for reporting out to folks in organization
    • Managerial responsibilities, rotating leadership, managing senior vs. junior people
    • Internal recognition
  • Law Firm Fellows:
    • Understanding what it’s like “to walk in my shoes”
    • Building tangible business relationships
    • Teaching skills to be leader
    • GC exposure
  • Opportunity for collaboration between external and internal counsel

 

  • More considerations:
  • Which age group to focus on? 
  • Are we trying to build skills to become partners or to be more successful partners?
  • Can we build into training some benefits of secondment?
  • Mentoring – what are turning points in career; who invested in you and why?  How do we train Fellows to be attractive mentees?
  • How do we identify those lawyers who we want to work with again; how do Fellows in Fellowship Program become these people?
  • How to train folks to be problem-solvers
  • Identify opportunities in daily life; have to build relationships and invest.
  • Should Fellows and mentors be in same geography? 
  • Have someone focused on driving results and project.
  • How choose Fellows and avoid appearance of preferential treatment?