Sharpening Your Leadership Skills for 2020 and Beyond: Lessons from The Honorable Richard L. Gabriel, 0120 COBJ, Vol. 49, No. 1 Pg. 66
| Author | BY KRISTI DISNEY BRUCKNER |
| Position | Vol. 49, 1 [Page 66] |
Lessons from The Honorable Richard L. Gabriel
BY KRISTI DISNEY BRUCKNER
BAR NEWS HIGHLIGHT
What qualities make a good leader? Participants in the CBA's Leadership Training Program (COBALT) are given opportunities to consider this question during workshops led by inspiring lawyers and community leaders from across the state. One of these leaders is The Honorable Richard L. Gabriel of the Colorado Supreme Court. Justice Gabriel is a frequent COBALT volunteer and even gives each class a "behind the scenes" tour of the Court and his chambers. Recently, Justice Gabriel spoke to the 2019 COBALT class on effective leadership strategies and provided his take on the attributes of a good leader. These 16 attributes, summarized below, can be used to assess your own personal and professional leadership skills and develop strategies to take your skills to the next level.
#1. Ability to see the big picture, assess issues, create an agenda and realistic goals, follow through, and determine how success will be measured.
Good leaders understand where an organization has come from and where it is trying to go on a macro level, and they are effective at sharing their vision and welcoming input on it. Based on this information, effective leaders help organizations set and reach realistic goals. Realistic goals:
• fit the organization and its people,
• are attainable within a realistic time period so that people will stay engaged, and
• can be measured and evaluated.
Good leaders follow through—leading by example, staying engaged, and keeping others engaged so that the organization continues moving toward its shared goals.
Agreed measurements of success keep people motivated toward the goal and provide a sense of accomplishment in making progress. If people are not sure what a successful outcome looks like or how to measure it, leaders will not be able to sustain motivation. Clear milestones and measurable goals are recipes for success.
#2. Ability to think creatively to develop solutions to an organization's problems.
Good leaders think of solutions that others have not considered, but this requires an understanding of the organization and its people. A leader must understand the risk tolerance of his or her...
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