The Law Society's Leadership Program for In-house Lawyers offers a valuable opportunity for individuals seeking to enhance their leadership and management skills in support of their professional development and career advancement. 

In a series of six, half-day sessions, you will explore the many facets of leadership including leading yourself and a team, decision-making, power politics and influence, and coaching. These workshops are designed to complement the training provided by your organisations and offer the opportunity to develop your professional and leadership skills in a safe environment in consultation with experts. To complement these workshops and unlock your leadership potential, the course also includes three one-to-one unique coaching sessions to assist you in setting and meeting your professional goals.

Each session will be delivered In-person at The Law Society of NSW. 

Program Fees Participation in the program will cost $2,500 (ex GST).

For more information, click here. 

Applications closed

Modules

Module 1 - Leading yourself
The purpose of Module 1 is to support in-house counsel enhance their effectiveness in leading themselves as leaders. Through an exploration of how leaders may inadvertently ‘derail’ their career through their behaviours and actions, and the identification of a desired future leader identity based upon existing leader strengths, this module supports leaders to develop themselves.

Key outcomes are enhanced awareness regarding leadership journeys, the creation of a future description of each counsel as a leader, and uplifting of leadership reflective practice skills.

Module 2 - Team Leader as Coach
The purpose of Module 2 is to provide in-house counsel with “Leader as Coach’ skills supported with experience of coaching each other. This is a very experiential module whereby leaders will practice using coaching models and tools to self-coach, and to coach each other through current challenges.

Key outcomes are enhanced awareness of coaching principles, coaching frameworks, and considerable experience of coaching peers.  

Module 3 - Teams and Leadership
The purpose of Module 3 is to build upon the leader's developing self-awareness and coaching capabilities to explore leadership fundamentals, team dynamics, and how personal biases, information filters, etc., hinder their psychological flexibility and leadership effectiveness within organisational and social networks. Challenging leadership situations and difficult conversations are explored along with suggestions on best practice approaches for successful outcomes.  

Key outcomes are a deeper understanding of leadership psychology, leadership styles, team dynamics and culture, and capability to manage leadership challenges.

Module 4 - Leadership Decision-making
The purpose of Module 4 is to broaden the in-house counsel's appreciation of leadership by applying the learning from Modules 1 - 3, with new knowledge on decision-making criteria, in a detailed case study. The leaders work together to make sense of the challenges and make team leadership decisions regarding possible ways forward. 

Key outcomes are experience of working with leaders from other organisations to make non-legal decisions under time pressure, in an environment of uncertainty.

Module 5 - Power, politics, and Influence
The purpose of Module 5 is to support in-house counsel recognise that both internal and external networks can support their growth as leaders, enhance their ability to influence key decision-makers within their organisations, and expose them to new and diverse information.

Key outcomes are a deeper understanding of their networks, a detailed network map and understanding of how the leader connects with a selected individual within their organisation, and knowledge of how to use and build political skills. 

Module 6 - Leading Strategic Change
The purpose of Module 6 is for in-house counsel to draw together the learnings from all Modules and coaching sessions, and apply them in a challenging case study. The in-house counsel work together in teams to advise a Board on next steps to support business growth. With a combination of legal and non-legal requirements and challenges, the case study tests the in-house counsel's new leadership capabilities and their ability to apply the learnings to a real-life scenario.

The key outcome is for the in-house counsel to practice applying their program learning within a case study by role playing as a member of a senior advisory team to a fictitious company. 

Eligibility

• Member of the Law Society
• Hold a corporate legal practising certificate
• Available for all dates for workshops