President's Message
| Publication year | 2022 |
| Pages | 04 |
REIMAGINE
Strategic Planning for a Collective "Why?"
BY J. RYANN PEYTON
Every CBA president must get used to answering the question "why?"—Why do you want this job? Why now? Why this initiative? Why did you make that decision?
Depending on who's asking the question and their motivations for asking it, why can be vague or specific, introspective or peripheral, or sincere or sardonic. Ultimately, why is a question every CBA president has to answer for themselves.
It is the burden of the president to identify, create, and champion alignment in the collective why of our community. To generate this alignment, my why must be nimble in some ways yet durable in others. The success of our bar association depends on a collective vision that serves and inspires our members to engage with our programs, build relationships with one another, and be motivated to lead.
This bar year is a strategic planning year for the CBA. The current CBA strategic plan, REFOCUS 2020, was formulated in 2016 to guide the CBA through 2020. When it was drafted, no one could have imagined how the year 2020 would evolve. A global pandemic, unprecedented political divisiveness, and a racial justice reckoning 200 years in the making reshaped our country, our communities, and our profession. In light of the extraordinary circumstances, the CBA's strategic plan was renewed for another three years.
Now, six years later, the CBA is poised to embark on its strategic work again and collectively envision the next iteration of its why for Colorado's legal community.
Embrace Your Inner Architect
One of my whys for serving as CBA president this year is the opportunity to engage in the strategic planning process. I happily geek-out on strategic initiative development, research and assessment, and building blueprints for organizations. I've had the opportunity to lead several organizations through the strategic planning process, and each time I've learned more about how to enjoy the process.
Unfortunately, there's a common assumption among professionals that strategic planning needs to be challenging, exhausting, insufferable, or a necessary evil to obtain funding and credibility. But it doesn't have to be this way. The strategic planning process can be the catalyst that brings a fractured community together. Strategic planning can be an opportunity for bridge...
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