productive ways, instead of allowing them to become debilitating. As
encapsulated by the facilitators, the cycle of renewal consists of four
primary phases:
• Phase 1 Go for it: A period of success and stability
characterized by a dream and a plan;
• Phase 2 Doldrums: A period of boredom and restlessness;
• Mini-transition: A restructuring or minor revision to return
to Phase 1;
• Phase 3 Cocooning: A transition time and searching for
meaning;
• Phase 4 Getting Ready: A time of high energy and thirst
for creative activities, networking, and learning. 8
Being aware of our current position within the cycle allows us to
reflect on how we can best manage both our present situation and
our continual process throughout the different chapters of our lives.
Next, we focused on the importance of well-being to fruitful
leadership. The facilitators asked us to think about our sources of
energy, “sappers” of energy, and restorative practices that allow us
to bring back our energy once we have been drained. The working
sessions on Saturday ended with delving into authentic leadership
emerging from our own life stories. After the facilitators described
how each leader develops her own distinctive leadership style arising
out of the panoply of her unique life experiences, we all heard a
mesmerizing leadership story shared by Kathryn Hinds. Then the
facilitators encouraged everyone to document our life stories through
a “Lifeline Exercise,” where we wrote down a timeline of our lives.
Sunday began with a review of leadership practices that participants
plan to incorporate into their lives, including:
• Recognizing where you are in the cycle of renewal.
• Being present in the moment.
• Feeling excitement about planning next steps, setting
goals, and priorities.
• Listening, making connections, practicing inclusivity,
pulling others into conversations.
• Knowing that self-analysis is not stagnant but is continual.
• Mentoring and helping others who are in the doldrums.
• Incorporating self-care and restorative practices.
• Ensuring workplaces have nursing rooms for new mothers.
• Sharing our struggles and strategies.
• Opening up to others.
• Reflecting, reframing.
• Acknowledging and avoiding the shadow side of
strengths.
• Recognizing transitions, changes in work and life, and
realizing they are not impediments.
• Working with people who have opposite learning styles.
• Admitting when we are tired, attending to our bodies,
noticing our feelings, knowing it’s ok to slow down.
• Celebrating differences.
• Using our character strengths to help validate how we are
as leaders.
• Permitting ourselves and others to say “no.”
• Having a sense of humor.
We then broke into small groups, scattered throughout the lodge, and
shared our life stories. Once we regrouped, the facilitators had each
of us reflect on our leadership development plan and write about it
in our journals. After we shared our next steps, the facilitators, WLS
leadership, and retreat organizers thanked everyone for making the
retreat such an outstanding success.
The collaboration and commitment of numerous individuals and
supporters contributed to the success of the WLS Leadership
Retreat. Members of the WLS Leadership Committee played critical
roles in planning, promoting, and hosting the event and received
marvelous support from the entire WLS Executive Committee.
Additionally, the WLS Executive Committee, Leadership
Committee, and participants in the Leadership Retreat are grateful
for the generous support of the retreat’s cosponsors, including the
following:
• Women Lawyers Section of SBAND,
• State Bar Association of North Dakota,
• Family Law Section of SBAND,
• Fredrikson & Byron, P.A.,
• Maring Williams Law Office,
• Gjesdahl Law, PC,
• Serkland Law Firm,
• Elsberry & Shively, PC,
• Pladson Law Office, P.L.L.C.,
• Hon. Susan Solheim, and
• University of North Dakota School of Law.
The Women Lawyers Section hopes to provide more leadership
retreats and programs in the future and looks forward to welcoming
both prior and new participants into our future events.
1. Joanna Barsh, Susie Cranston, and Rebecca A. Craske, Centered Leadership: How Talented Women Thrive, 4 THE MCKINSEY QUARTERLY 35 (2008).
2. Bill George, Peter Sims, Andrew N. McLean, and Diana Mayer, Discovering Your Authentic Leadership, HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW 129 (Feb. 2007).
3. https://www.viacharacter.org/www/character-strengths-survey. According to the website, this survey “is a simple self-assessment that… provides a wealth of information to help you understand your core characteristics” which can help guide
individuals to “the five areas of well-being… more positive emotion, more engagement, better relationships, more meaning, and more accomplishments.”
4. The author of this article thanks the facilitators and participants for their collective contributions to these ideas, some of which have been combined or rephrased. The author takes responsibility for any errors, oversights, or inaccuracies.
5. Ryan Niemiec, ROAD-MAP to Strengths Use, http://www.viacharacter.org/blog/road-map-to-strengths-use/ (April 18, 2012); Dr. Ryan Niemiec, Anyone Can Boost Happiness with This Simple Exercise, https://www.viacharacter.org/blog/anyone-
can-boost-happiness-simple-exercise/ (December 3, 2018).
6. David A. Kolb, KOLB LEARNING STYLE INVENTORY, Workbook Version 3.1, Korn Ferry (2017).
7. Frederic Hudson, Hudson Institute of Coaching, see https://hudsoninstitute.com/individuals/lifeforward/.
8. Kathy Story and Alanna Moravetz, Retreat Materials, p. 6; see also Frederic Hudson, THE ADULT YEARS: MASTERING THE ART OF SELF-RENEWAL, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass (1999).
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