Women Lawyers Section
Leadership Retreat
By Julia L. Ernst
On November 9-11, 2018, SBAND’s Women Lawyers Section
(WLS) hosted a leadership retreat at the Coteau des Prairies Lodge,
located about 90 minutes southwest of Fargo. Twenty-nine WLS
members participated and represented numerous legal fields.
Nationally-recognized legal leadership experts Kathy Story, from
Memphis, Tenn., and Alanna Moravetz, from St. Paul, Minn., served
as facilitators. They led sessions enabling WLS members to explore
and further develop their unique and personal leadership skills in an
interactive and supportive setting. The program not only provided
meaningful leadership workshops, but also fostered invaluable
networking exchanges among the participants and presenters.
During the weeks leading up to the retreat, participants completed a
brief questionnaire for the facilitators indicating their practice areas
and years of experience, why they were interested in the retreat, and
how participation may impact their careers, employers, communities,
and other aspects of their lives. The participants also read two short
articles, Centered Leadership: How Talented Women Thrive1 and
Discovering Your Authentic Leadership,2 completed the free, online
VIA Survey of Character Strengths,3 and brought the survey results
to the retreat. Finally, Moravetz and Story
called each of the participants to learn more
about them and their goals for the weekend.
The following is a brief recap of the
weekend and some of the lessons learned
during the retreat.4
ground rules for the retreat, which provide helpful guidelines leaders
can use in many settings:
• Be fully present.
• Listen for understanding.
• Use “yes, and” statements instead of “yes, but”
statements.
• Own your own learning.
• Take care of yourself.
• Keep technology out of sight.
• Respect double confidentiality.
• Step up and step back.
On Saturday, we examined the top five traits each of us had discerned
before the retreat by taking the VIA Survey of Character Strengths.
The facilitators affixed large sheets of flipchart paper across the front
of the room, each labeled with two of the traits. Using sticky notes,
we flagged our top five strengths under the appropriate labels. This
exercise enabled us to discuss how the various character strengths
might intersect with different styles of leadership in both positive
and potentially negative ways. The researchers who developed the
survey encourage everyone to play to their
strengths;5 in other words, people should
reframe their work to utilize fully their
signature strengths and should enable
their colleagues to do so, as well.
Throughout Friday evening, participants
arrived at the Coteau des Prairies Lodge.
After dinner, we gathered around tables
configured in a large square, and the
facilitators instructed us to pair with
someone we did not yet know, think of
a professional success where we were “at
our best,” and share it with our partner.
Pulling us back together as a group,
the facilitators asked us to introduce
ourselves, stating our name, practice area,
and one word describing the trait that
fostered our success. The multitude of
different characteristics emerging from the
introductions demonstrated that no specific
set of characteristics defines leadership; instead,
leadership arises from each individual’s own
authentic self – a concept reinforced in the
articles we had read prior to the retreat.
The workshop portion of Friday evening
ended with an agreement upon important
10
THE GAVEL
The participants of the WLS Leadership Retreat.
After a break, we dove into an
examination of our individual ways of
learning and how the four archetypal
learning styles impact our leadership
strengths and weaknesses, using the Kolb
Learning Style Inventory6 assessment
and workbook. We broke into groups
based on our learning styles and created
a poster reflecting the strengths and
weaknesses of each of our groups’ styles.
Each group shared its poster, so we could
all understand each other better and how
to work more effectively with people who
have different learning preferences.
For the next segment, the facilitators
informed us about the “Cycle of
Renewal”7 for managing change and
building resilience. Most individuals
undergo cycles of change throughout
their lives. Successful people learn how
to manage those changes, including
difficulties and setbacks, in positive and