Keep learning, keep growing.

• Author: Sutor, Alycia
• Position: President's Podium

For about the last five years, every August, I've attended a two-day global leadership conference that pulls together some of the best speakers and thinkers on the topic of leadership development. Throughout the years, I've had a chance to hear and learn from leadership consultants such as Jim Collins, Daniel Pink, Seth Godin and Patrick Lencioni, as well as leadership practitioners and CEOs such as Jack Welsh, Carly Fiorina, Tony Dungy and Bono (yes, that Bono). I've also listened to civic leaders and politicians such as Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Cory Booker. After every conference, I come back inspired and filled with new ideas and tools, including a reading list that keeps me busy for months. That August leadership conference, like the LMA Annual Conference, has become a core practice to maintaining my professional well-being and overall career health

As leaders in the legal profession, maintaining great professional health is important People rely on us to bring energy, ideas, passion and innovation to our organizations and teams. However, being energetic, productive and innovative comes at a cost, so we also have a responsibility to be mindful of how and when we are refueling ourselves

Unlike my kids, who headed back to school recently, as adults, we don't have the luxury of having a built-in educational system that tells us how and what to learn and when to do it. Frankly, none of us probably want that kind of structure and rigidity anymore--if we ever did--but I do miss having a focal point in time that tells me when it's time to dive into new learning and when it's time to relax.

That's one of the great parts of having a community like LMA to tap into. When we're ready, there are built-in content resources that help us learn, but we also have so many great people to turn to who help us find new...