Washington Lawyer - July/August 2024 - 14

FEATURE
Building Self-Aware Leaders
perspectives that may not
be serving them well, then
think about how their peers
can help them shift that
perspective, " says Monique
Steele, principal of Steele
Consultant Group and one of
the facilitators of the Leadership
Academy.
The class of 2024 reflects the diversity of the D.C. Bar
and the Washington, D.C., legal community.
By John Murph
O
ne morning in late April, 27 attorneys gathered
at the D.C. Bar headquarters for the first day of
the 2024 John Payton Leadership Academy, the
Bar's signature training program that provides
lawyers with the tools they need not only to excel in
their careers, but also to thrive and lead in fast-paced
environments.
Following a welcome and orientation, the group engaged in several exercises,
including one that involved flipping over images of cities and
landscapes and then arranging them in some logical order. Upon closer
examination, the participants discovered that there were numeric figures
hidden within the pictures.
The purpose of the activity was to encourage participants to question
how they see and think about things, which also reveals how they view
themselves as leaders. " They might have a certain way of thinking about
leadership. We want them to challenge that. We want them to bring up
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* JULY/AUGUST 2024
Through these interactive lessons,
participants learn how
to first " lead themselves " by
understanding who they are
so that they can better articulate
their professional and
personal values.
" A leader has to know who
he or she is in this [changing
professional] environment in
order for them to be able to
lead anybody else, " says Darryl
Spivey, also a facilitator at
this year's academy. " We used
to say, years ago, 'put on your
own oxygen mask first before you help others.' Our push is beyond that.
We're about getting people to a place where they understand that when
working in a new environment, you need to really understand yourself, "
adds Spivey, vice president and CFO of Your Write Hand.
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
Now in its 11th year, the Leadership Academy is named in honor of the
late John Payton, a former D.C. Bar president (2001-2002) and one of
the most influential civil rights attorneys of his generation. Payton, who
served as director-counsel and president of the NAACP Legal Defense and
Education Fund from 2008 until his untimely death in 2012, also devoted
much of his career to the training and mentorship of young attorneys.
This year's attendees, as in previous classes of the Leadership Academy,
reflect the diversity of the Bar and the Washington, D.C., legal community
- many are young associates at Big Law firms; others work in government,
legal services organizations, and in solo practices. But unlike
in previous years, this year's academy moved away from the traditional
classroom setting to more interactive ways of teaching attendees about
leadership.
Zenia Wilson Laws, a senior staff attorney at Legal Aid DC, says she discovered
a lot of new things about herself as a leader on the first day of the
academy. " I really enjoy the human aspect of it and connecting with other
Photos by Patrice Gilbert Photography
Washington Lawyer - July/August 2024

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