With large gatherings on the sidelines for the foreseeable future, one might expect law firm professional development activities to be at a standstill. Not so, say heads of training at many AmLaw 200 firms. Rather, demand is rising, especially in areas highly aligned with the needs of 2020: DEI, business development and leadership. This spike in interest, alongside the pandemic-induced move to a largely virtual workforce, has many leaders asking how to respond effectively to the call for education in a remote world. And understandably so.
Confidence in the ability of some traditional trainers to morph their content to an online format is decidedly low; as is the efficacy of day-long programs delivered over Zoom. The adage “what got you here won’t get you there,” rings true. To create impactful learning opportunities for high-performing adults in an online environment takes a new approach – one replete with creative solutions, interactivity, technology and a whole lot of planning.
In fall of 2020, the authors launched a Leadership Foundations Program, sponsored by Thomson Reuters’ Legal Executive Institute. This course brought together a group of nearly 60 aspiring and current leaders from around the world. Over the course of six weeks, we have explored and tested a variety of proven and innovative techniques. We have learned innumerable lessons along the way about format, approach and communication. More importantly, we have homed in on five critical success factors (not surprisingly, well aligned with adult learning principles) to create a lasting, tangible impact in leadership development.
Create many and varied engagement opportunities – perhaps one of the greatest conundrums people are facing in our newly remote world is how to maintain, encourage and foster high levels of engagement. As zoom-fatigue sets in and the pandemic extends beyond a comfortable timeline for enduring such disruption to our daily lives, people inevitably lose interest. Mental health deteriorates, ennui sets in. Building meaningful opportunities for connection – through learning and with others – helps to boost engagement (and, thereby, learning).
In an online training application, as in many situations, increased engagement relies on offering a menu of options and different paths to interacting with materials and one another. A single or series of zoom breakout sessions, while useful, will not singularly support lasting, meaningful learning. Law firms can draw on a suite of choices to enhance engagement include online discussion forums, small group assignments, task forces, recommended reading, interactive documents and forms, polling, self-reflection journals, surveys, and more.
Perhaps one of the most powerful is the concept of cohort-based learning. Cohort-based learning (as opposed to individual learning where learners engage almost exclusively with a teacher and materials) relies on the premise that emerging and current leaders will learn as much, if not more, from one another as from those guiding instruction. Learners support and interact one another, creating a form of peer pressure which encourages others to show up, engage and contribute.Embrace diversity – our program design did not guarantee that we would have a diverse group of learners, yet we were fortunate. Diversity – in roles, race, gender, backgrounds, cultures and experience – lent a valuable element of humanity to the learning environment. In John’s oft-quoted terms “we may be in the same storm, but we are not all in the same boat,” learners’ exposure to the varied circumstances and perspectives of fellow leaders created the opportunity to better understand, practice and apply core principles of empathy, understanding and belonging. Candid conversations presented a chance for leaders to deepen their self-awareness – a foundational characteristic of effective leadership – while exploring how to accept and promote different voices.
Make it experiential – the difference between “learning” and “doing” is as vast as the Grand Canyon. Many people leave educational programs excited about what they have just learned. Often within hours, and almost always within weeks, people lose sight of their newfound knowledge if they do not have an opportunity to put it into action. The key is to integrate lessons into learners’ daily lives, giving them the opportunity to experiment and grow using their newly acquired ideas and skills.
One powerful experiential tool is to “flip the classroom.” This method gives learners an opportunity to experiment with something they already know how to do and process its impact on them personally before being presented with new tools and tactics to improve or tweak what they are already doing. For example, having learners practice giving each other feedback highlights the emotional challenges for both the person giving and the person receiving feedback. This awareness leads to insights into how to deliver feedback that impacts behavior rather than emotions.Incorporate immediately applicable and relevant content – many learning models are extraordinary at presenting theory. Though valuable, theory has its limits, especially when early in one’s learning journey. Consider a young child before a kitchen stove. The child has not yet learned how metal conducts heat but she knows not to touch the boiling pot. In much the same way, those new to a concept benefit from specificity in how to act – what does the concept look like in a real-life situation and how to incorporate it into daily life. Busy professional learners, especially, demand content they can put to work immediately.
In practice, providing readily accessible action items means setting aside many models, approaches and tools. An initial focus on simpler constructs gives leaders the best chance to learn and apply new ideas in the shortest amount of time. Relevance is equally important. A practical, real-life scenario such as effective leadership in a remote working environment trumps a well-conceived yet rarely experienced hypothetical (e.g., certain case studies). Providing experiences that demonstrate both relevance and the potential for better outcomes is inspiring for learners.Go soft (soft skills, we mean) – substantive skills are, relatively, some of the easiest things to learn and measure and, as such, get an inordinate amount of time, energy and investment from law firms. Unfortunately, “easy” rarely equates to high value. It is so-called “soft skills” – empathy, self-awareness, flexibility, integrity – that differentiate between people with leadership titles and people who are effective leaders. Similarly, it is “soft skills” that distinguish most rainmakers from the rest of the lawyers in their graduating class.
An exploration of individual strengths, leadership styles, emotional intelligence and basic psychology about human needs is not found in the typical law school curriculum. Nor are courses on how to become a top practitioner or lawyer leader. To achieve these heights, then, firms must look beyond the traditional curriculum and invest in areas proven to create true differentiation and correlate directly with heightened success.
Demand for effective leaders is at an all-time high in today’s unpredictable environment. Law firms are looking for leaders capable of handling vast amounts of uncertainty amidst a period of widespread emotional intensity and dramatic change. Few leaders are equipped with the tools to handle any one of the significant changes thrust upon us recently, let alone all at once. Rather than shy away from the charge, why not jump headfirst into the fray? Offer current and emerging leaders the training, insights and tools they need today to make an impact on the firm’s tomorrow. Deploy the critical success factors, above, and tailor others to align with your firm’s needs, to create an impactful remote learning opportunity. Start today – preparing today’s leaders for a better tomorrow – the cost of doing nothing is too high.