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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR COLUMN

LEADERSHIP

IN ACTION

Rebecca Ruppert McMahon

f you joined us for the 12 Annual Kevin Donoughe, Rose Fini, Gabe Kelly, and grow our membership by attracting
th
Meeting on June 3, you had a chance to Pat Krebs and Neal Shapero. The panel young/younger and new/newer attorneys.
help us celebrate, among other things, the evaluated each project on the basis of its: Specifically, the teams were challenged to
graduation of our Leadership Academy. • quality and quantity of potential envision a “Bar within the Bar” that would be
I Way back in September, 26 attorneys collaborations inside and outside of devoted to serving the needs and capturing
began our 10-month Leadership Academy the CMBA (Sections, Committees, the long-term engagement of attorneys
journey designed to give both Established Community Partners); who possess less than 10 years of practice
Leaders (15+ years of experience) and • creativity and innovation; and experience. The two teams that tackled this
Emerging Leaders (5+ years of experience), • specificity, sensibility and sustainability. project were:
an opportunity to take a deep dive into True to competitive lawyer form, the teams Bar within a Bar Team 1: David Cupar,
leadership within the legal industry. In some developed tremendous pitches that could Diane Feigi, Amy Jeffries, Joe Lanter, Chris
sessions, that meant exploring the essential (and potentially will) transform different Gray and Shana Marbury
skills that strong lawyer-leaders exhibit. segments of our Bar. The projects both tie Bar within a Bar Team 2: Lydia Floyd,
In others, the focus shifted to identifying into the CMBA’s existing strategic plan which Ross Dibello, Stephanie Klupinski, John
a myriad of leadership opportunities for calls for the Bar to continue our evolution as Liber, Laura McNally-Levine, Joe Simms
lawyers. In still others, class members the “go to” organization for law and justice and Heather Zirke.
gained practical insights on how to land the issues by serving as a community convener In the end, the judges unanimously selected
leadership roles they want. to identify and address the significant issues, the outstanding proposal submitted by Bar
Perhaps the best highlight from every while also serving as an indispensable within a Bar Team 2 as the best in class this
session was the opportunity for participants resource to our members. year! Their plan for engagement — which you
to learn a little (or a lot!) about one another. Within the thought leadership arena, two will see coming to reality later this year —
From small firms to big firms, corporations, teams immersed themselves in the efforts the includes a call for “Mini Bar” events outside
government agencies and non-profit CMBA has undertaken over the past three of downtown Cleveland and a Non-profit
organizations, class members represented years to intentionally expand our thought Director Certification Program. These
a variety of backgrounds, experiences, leadership activities. Specially, we challenged innovations, and those advanced by the other
viewpoints and career goals. Each month, the teams to propose one or more new teams, are sure to help us continue to expand
we fostered substantive opportunities for action plans the CMBA can undertake to our offerings and drive engagement among
one-on-one dialogue, as well as group further drive our role in this area, including our members.
conversations. We also created ample time consideration for meaningful cross- Next month: stay tuned for the
for the members of the class to network with collaborations with priority organizations announcement of our newest Leadership
our equally diverse slate of presenters who throughout our community. Academy members!
represented a myriad of leadership roles from The two teams that tackled this project were: In the meantime, if you are interested in
judges, managing partners, general counsel, Thought Leadership Team 1: Bobby finding out how you can get plugged in, call
CEOs and more. Botnick, Serpil Ergun, Joy Kennedy, Katie me or better yet: come Meet us at the Bar. Have
In the middle of the program, we launched Laskey-Donovan, Tracey Gonzalez, Sarah a great summer!
a capstone experience. Class members were Polly and Peter Hochberg.
divided into four project teams and then Thought Leadership Team 2: Amanda
were assigned to one of two projects. The Barreto, Jeff Caso, Chris Keim, Margo Rebecca Ruppert McMahon is the CEO of the
head-to-head competition was fierce! In Meola, Chris Hoecek and Tiffany Wright. CMBA. She has been a CMBA member since
May, the teams presented their proposals The other two teams dove deep into 1995. She can be reached at (216) 696-3525 or
to a panel of esteemed judges comprised of the CMBA’s strategic vision to strengthen rmcmahon@clemetrobar.org.
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JULY/AUGUST 2019