PAUSE – REFLECT – RESTART

You may have wondered why you haven’t seen a call for applications to the 2019 Alabama State Bar Leadership Forum. That’s because the Forum is undergoing a strategic pause as we experience some transitions at the bar headquarters. Assistant Executive Director Ed Patterson is retiring after successfully leading the Leadership Forum during its first fourteen years. This transition offers an opportunity for reflection and to take stock of what has worked well and how we might improve.

One certainty is the Alabama State Bar Leadership Forum is not going away. A group has been formed to evaluate what is already working great with the Forum and what we can add to make it even better when we restart in 2020. Ed will very much be a part of coordinating and participating in this process.

Lawyers have a unique opportunity to impact humanity in meaningful and significant ways. In order for that impact to have the greatest value we collectively rise above our individual limitations. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The Leadership Forum is a program that facilitates that outcome every year and in every group without fail. For this reason, we hope that you’ll make plans to apply next year to be a part of Class 15 of the Leadership Forum. If this is your last year of eligibility, don’t worry – we’ll extend the opportunity for you again next year!

---

To view the Leadership Forum Class 1 through 13 highlight video, click here.

To view a clip from Pooja Chawla, graduate from Class 13, click here.

Click here to read about the Leadership Forum in the July 2017 issue of The Alabama Lawyer.

The Alabama State Bar Leadership Forum is honored as a dynamic and highly effective model for nurturing and developing leadership skills and values among a select group of qualified, promising lawyers each year. Now in its 14th year, the Alabama State Bar Leadership Forum has illuminated a pathway for other state bars and legal organizations recognizing the need for servant-minded bar and community leadership. Graduates of the Alabama bar program become models of ethical and professional behavior both within and outside the legal community.

The Leadership Forum is distinguished by the quality and prominence of forum presenters, as well as its highly innovative approach to an array of subjects informing development of leadership skills and presence. The “servant leadership” ethic advanced by the forum enhances professionalism as it calls for sharing power and helping others develop and perform to the best of their ability. From the program’s inception in 2005, it has produced 377 graduates equipped not only to influence the bar but to shape the future of the state of Alabama. Entry to the program is competitive, with more than 40 percent of applicants chosen for the 30 positions each year.