Bar leaders certainly are studious!
Or they can be, anyway, when they're trying to absorb, in a jam-packed
few days, information that will guide them through a very important year.
This year's ABA Bar Leadership Institute, March 7-9 at the downtown Chicago
Marriott, was my first-which, in a way, put me in the same boat as all
those incoming bar presidents trying to take everything in.
This is an article I can only write this year-the impressions of a person
attending BLI for the first time. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing:
In the coming years, experience will deepen my understanding of this event
and of the topics covered. Who knows? Maybe someday I'll be a seasoned
BLI veteran, like the executive directors who attend year after year.
Here are some highlights and new ideas I picked up at my first ever BLI.
The titles of many of the sessions involved music in some way, a reference
to the keynote speaker, Benjamin Zander, who conducts the Boston Philharmonic
Orchestra (see "Conductor leads BLI attendees to new ways of thinking,"
page 23).
Becoming media conscious
I honestly had no idea just how interested bar presidents and other bar
leaders are in learning how to deal with the media-both in terms of avoiding
controversy and of publicizing the bar's good works.
I sat in on three programs-one optional session, one general session,
and one concurrent workshop-that dealt with how to handle the media, and
each was well attended and seemed to hit home with the audience. Here
are some impressions from each of those sessions:
Margie Elsberg of media consulting firm Elsberg Associates, Chestertown,
Md., tailored her optional session on "Tips for Handling Television
Interviews" to the particular concerns of those in the audience.
During much of the session, Elsberg tackled some fears and misperceptions
many bar leaders have toward the media and emphasized that a reporter-if
properly led-could be a bar president's best ally.
"[Reporters] don't get it wrong on purpose," Elsberg stressed.
"[A story] will be more accurate the more you help them." Reporters
certainly don't deliberately flub names, ages, and other key details,
Elsberg said, but are sometimes embarrassed to admit they didn't quite
catch them the first time. It helps both parties, she said, if the bar
leader being interviewed asks such questions as "Do you understand?"
"Can you read that back to me?" and "Would you like me
to slow down?"
It's a great idea to suggest stories for a reporter or columnist to cover,
Elsberg said, but these shouldn't be blandly complimentary pieces with
no interesting angle. Bar leaders often fear that reporters are only interested
in controversy and, Elsberg says, this is at least partially true: Conflict
and "tug of war" add interest and enliven their articles. Feed
a reporter a story with no controversy or disagreement, and the reporter
may think, " 'I'll take your self-serving article … but I'm
going to find a knowledgeable person who disagrees.' " One way to
turn this around, Elsberg said, is to actually suggest someone to represent
a different view on an issue.
Elsberg used a recent example to illustrate how even a negative article
can be turned into a positive opportunity. USA Today reported recently
that 72.8 percent of survey respondents would not trust a public defender
to represent them. Bar leaders should combat this negative perception,
not by offering generalities ("Public defenders work hard")
but by guiding reporters with specifics ("I know a public defender
who's in the library all the time doing research").
In general, Elsberg said, bar leaders need to seek media attention, not
hide from it-particularly when it comes to combating negative opinions
of the legal profession. "If you leave inaccurate, unfair perceptions
out there, you're part of the problem," she said.
Elsberg's presentation-which itself involved some role playing and hostile
interview questions, was followed by a period during which bar leaders
participated in videotaped simulated television interviews.
During a general session called "Composition and Performance,"
Michael Sheehan, president of Washington, D.C.-based communications training
firm Sheehan Associates, used a series of video clips to illustrate how
not to behave during a media interview.
In one clip, then-presidential candidate Bob Dole, ostensibly on the Today
Show with wife Elizabeth to discuss a book about their marriage and political
life, responds with defensiveness when Katie Couric instead delves into
the Dole campaign's acceptance of contributions from big tobacco companies.
Rather than try to redirect Couric to more neutral or positive ground,
Bob Dole becomes more and more hostile, until, toward the very end of
the interview, Elizabeth says, "Aren't we going to talk about the
book?"
In another example, an expert attempts to explain fluctuations in various
Asian currencies to a financial reporter who becomes more confused the
more questions he asks. The lesson? Be aware that the issues you think
are perfectly clear because you deal with them every day may not be self-evident
to everyone else. And a simple answer beats a complex one. "The majority
of what you say will be edited," Sheehan pointed out. "That's
the trouble with complexity."
After a few more negative examples (most notably, one in which an official
explains that an oil spill near Australia is no problem to the environment,
because the oil is out in the ocean, where "There is no environment"),
Sheehan covered four key ideas bar leaders should use to guide their media
interviews. These were: avoiding clutter, giving salient information,
keeping it simple, and repeating the message more often than you think
is necessary.
"There's a gap between how many times you say it and how many times
they hear it," Sheehan said.
During their session on "Harmonious Communications Planning,"
Tamra Drees, director of public affairs at the Chicago Bar Association,
and Bradley Carr, director of media services and public affairs at the
New York State Bar Association, gave some highly practical ideas on dealing
with the press.
One important practice, Drees said, is to keep a list of reporters in
your area and update it at least once a year, to allow for turnover. The
list should also indicate how each reporter prefers to be reached: by
e-mail, fax, or some other means.
To avoid message confusion, Carr said, the bar president should be "the
only voice of your association," and if the executive director is
contacted by a reporter, he or she should refer the caller to the bar
president. Being the one voice of the bar association, Carr said, also
means acting as "the voice of all lawyers in your area."
As for publicizing bar events in the local media, Drees said it's more
realistic to approach a columnist with a single human interest story than
to pepper a reporter with news of all your events.
There's one thing I would like to add, given that I am "from the
media" myself and was something of a spy at these three sessions:
Be sure to take enough photos at your events that you can spare one or
two for a reporter to use! Or take-and this is key-high resolution digital
photos so you can share them with as many people as you like. It's not
that a worthwhile program will be ignored if there are no photos available,
but, as Elsberg said, the more you help a reporter, the better.
For more information on how bar leaders learn to interact with the press,
see "Ready for your close-up? Media training for bar leaders,"
page 16.
Puzzling over boards and governance
What a challenge it must be to assume the helm, for one brief year, of
an organization made up of intricate layers of committees, sections, divisions,
and so on, and to coordinate them all toward some common purpose. I attended
two sessions that addressed these challenges head-on.
Dadie Perlov, principal of New York-based Consensus Management Group,
didn't mince words during her session called "Melodious Governance."
Perlov has been "hanging around" bar associations for 10 years,
she said, and "I haven't seen enough of you change."
Perlov said bars-including unified state bars, she stressed-need to keep
a sharp focus on what members want, and "The only way to do that
is to ask them." One question that might help get members thinking,
she suggested, is "What are the issues you face every day at your
desk?"
Bar associations could be more nimble, Perlov said, if they pared down
to just three committees: a finance committee, a nominating committee,
and an ethics or practice committee. Everything else, she said, could
be handled with short-term assignments or with committees that meet online.
Committee reports should be similarly pared down, Perlov said; she recommended
a simple half-page answer to the question "What did you learn that
we need to know?" If a committee can't prove its accomplishments
in this way, Perlov said, "then it's 'Sayonara, my love.' "
To make it easier to sunset committees without it looking like a personal
attack, Perlov recommended making it clear from the outset that each committee
would be evaluated according to concrete objectives.
Perlov challenged bar presidents to "establish an achievement culture
within your bar" by celebrating achievements rather than activities.
For example, saying a committee met four times and put out a newsletter
only tells part of the story. What were the results of their efforts?
Such entities are "beehives of activity," Perlov said, "but
they don't necessarily produce results at the end of the day."
Bar associations have a lofty purpose-safeguarding the rule of law-which,
Perlov said, they can't fulfill if they're bogged down by their structure.
"So much of your time is devoted to supporting structure," she
said. "And we can't afford that anymore."
o In "Conducting the Symphony," Mona Buckley, currently staff
director of the ABA International Law Section and formerly executive director
of the Multnomah (Ore.) Bar Association, and Karen Garst, executive director
of the Oregon State Bar, spoke about their own efforts to streamline and
to maintain order at their bars.
It's easy to deviate from a strategic plan, Garst said, particularly with
so many people offering their opinions regarding the bar's direction and
goals: "The enemy of a great idea is 10 good ones."
Garst is currently trying to get her bar's board to condense its bylaws
and policies and to take a good, hard look at the bar's governance. For
others interested in this type of rethinking, Garst recommended challenging
the board a bit by asking its members to "Go back and look at your
last board agenda. Do you do any of that?"
Buckley recommended maintaining a clear division between the work of the
staff and the work of the board. It's tempting for the executive director
to take on too much responsibility, but, when attending board functions,
he or she should make clear that " 'I'm not in charge of this meeting,'
" she said.
Managing the finances
In difficult economic times, said certified public accountant Douglas
Boedeker, "Your first reaction is not necessarily the best."
A panicky and short-sighted decision to start hacking away at bar programs-and
staff rosters-shifts focus away from the bar's mission and doesn't move
it forward, said Boedeker, senior manager of audit and assurance services
at Washington, D.C.-based accounting and consulting firm Tate & Tryon.
During a general session called "At Last-Full Circle," Boedeker
recommended other means of saving money without cutting vital functions
or people. For example, a bar association might colocate or cosponsor
an event with another organization, sharing the expense, rather than simply
cutting the event from the budget.
Boedeker also recommended bars not hurry to move their publications entirely
to the Web as a way to save money, as many members see printed publications
as an important benefit.
In general, Boedeker recommended that bars keep a sharp eye on their finances,
but also that they keep their long-term goals in mind. A difficult balance,
he acknowledged: "Long-term sounds great until you need money."
At a workshop called "Developing and Maintaining Your Bar's Financial
Infrastructure," Rodney Wegener, chief financial officer at the Oregon
State Bar, offered a number of quick observations, recommendations, and
facts regarding the state of bar finances. Some of these included:
"Don't budget like
the person driving a car blindfolded while taking directions from the
passenger looking in the rear-view mirror." That is, think, plan,
and budget beyond the 12-month period of your presidency, rather than
simply looking back at the previous term to set the course for your
year.
Include reserves as part
of the budget process.
" 'Not for profit'
is a tax status, not a business practice." Wegener heard this at
a seminar once, and mentioned it here to remind attendees that they
have a responsibility to make sure their bar is financially healthy
so it can continue to serve its members well.
Looking toward the future
BLI concluded with a glimpse of the future of the legal profession, courtesy
of Stuart A. Forsyth, a San Diego-based consultant-and former executive
director of the State Bar of Arizona-who bills himself as "the Legal
Futurist." Here are some of Forsyth's key observations:
Be ready for more technological innovation and change. "What made
you successful today will not guarantee success tomorrow," Forsyth
said. "Most of what you will need to be successful in the future
has not been invented yet."
Now more than ever, members want access, control, and personalization
from the organizations to which they belong.
Thanks to innovations such as the Internet and cell phones, "place
and time are less relevant" and will only become less so in the future.
This may mean having to cater to more demanding bar members who are used
to instant gratification in other areas of their lives.
Because of the abundance of data available online to non-lawyers, "Lawyers
no longer hold the keys to legal information." In fact, Forsyth said,
lawyers are perceived as less relevant than they used to be: "Most
people in America don't go to lawyers and don't know any lawyers."
Knowing all this, bar leaders should prepare for "wild cards"
such as September 11, but should realize they have the power to select
and work toward their "preferred future." Each person's preferred
future is different, but each person's vision should be plausible, should
be based on possibility, not just prediction, should engage the heart
and not just the mind, and should embody the core values of the individual
or organization.
Meeting the ABA
Besides the programs mentioned above and those I haven't covered, BLI
also offered plenty of opportunities for bar leaders to become acquainted
with various ABA entities and officers. Here's a look at some of those
opportunities:
Bar leaders had the option of participating in group consultations with
ABA program staff in a number of areas, including law-related education,
bar planning and governance, minority lawyers, and legal technology.
Attendees had another opportunity to learn about a number of ABA entities
during an informal lunch program called "BLI Taste of ABA Resources
and Services." ABA staff was on hand, at tables around a ballroom,
to meet attendees and answer questions. After lunch, ABA Executive Director
Robert A. Stein reported on recent ABA initiatives.
Stephen N. Zack, chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Bar Activities
and Services, welcomed incoming presidents with this thought, which someone
shared with him as Zack was anticipating his year as president of the
Florida Bar: "Next year, you're going to have an opportunity to do
more good than you ever will again in your whole life." People come
to BLI, Zack said, because "they do not want to waste that opportunity."
Current ABA President Robert E. Hirshon, who called himself "a proud
graduate of the Bar Leadership Institute" of 1985, said attending
BLI that year helped him focus on what he really wanted to accomplish
during his term. "Think of the vision and opportunity you feel passionate
about and then go where your heart leads you," Hirshon advised.
ABA President-Elect A.P. Carlton introduced himself and his goals for
the year, one of which, he told attendees, "is to make sure you and
all those you represent understand and communicate with the ABA."
Carlton identified a common purpose among those active in bar work: "We
all believe our profession to be an incredible force for good," and
said the ABA will stand behind state and local bars' efforts to monitor
the fairness of judicial elections.
Planning for next year's BLI
Does that sound like a lot of activity in just three short days? It was-and
keep in mind that I've only covered key points from some of the programming
I attended. I came away from my first BLI feeling as if I had a much better
handle on the challenges bar presidents face and on the opportunities
that await them, too.
While we're all thinking about it, it's not too early to pencil in next
year's BLI, which will be March 6-8 at the downtown Chicago Marriott.
I know I'll be there-just not as a first-timer!
