Suggested by Career Services: Lawyers as Leaders

Lawyers work as public officials—executives, legislators, and staff—at the local, state, and federal levels of the United States government. Lawyers also run businesses and nonprofits, not to mention the numbers practicing in law firms. With so many positions in society filled by lawyers, the question becomes: How are they being trained for these roles?

Author Deborah Rhode argues that traditional law education has done little in this regard. In Lawyers as Leaders, she attempts to rectify this gap by using interdisciplinary research, biographical profiles, and empirical studies to cover decision-making, conflict management, and diversity in leadership—and addresses what lawyers can do to advance both their professional development and the public interest.

The most successful leaders are those who can see past their own ambitions and retain a capacity for critical reflection on their performance. In order to be successful, the author argues that soft skills such as empathy and active listening are critical.

Lawyers as Leaders is also available to the CSU community electronically.