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CLE Leadership & Management
Ideas, Resources, and Techniques for
CLE Professionals
A periodic e-newsletter
By Chuck Bingaman - chuck@chuckbingaman.com
#11
January, 2004
Leadership
 “Recent events have shown us that
intelligence about the world at large can be,
to put it politely, malleable. If the
people responsible for operations provide and shape their own intelligence, they
will tend to produce information and analysis that fit their
preconceptions. The same is true for
corporate intelligence. Especially as
companies and industries mature, they may face decisions that their operating
executives find difficult to confront. These
companies—indeed, all companies—need a chief knowledge officer, someone
who provides honest, unbiased intelligence about the world around a company and
where the company stands in the world.” That’s the view of Lester Thurow, Prof. of Economics and Management
at MIT, in an adaptation from his new book, Fortune Favors the
Bold (Harper Business, 2003), quoted in the January 2004 Fast Company article. Thurow continues, “In our increasingly
knowledge-based economy, every company will eventually have such an officer,
and those who get
there first will have a competitive edge. Just
what this person will do is still being invented and will differ from industry
to industry.” Consider that idea—or cluster of
ideas—carefully! Think about how valuable an energetic CKO could be to
your CLE organization whose existence and success depends on understanding shifting
trends, wants, needs and resources in a complex, evolving
profession. Who in CLE will have the
foresight, courage and inventiveness to try it first?
Management
Geez,
have I seen some boring CLE brochures lately! Especially the course titles they’re
promoting! Why can’t EVERY course brochure
incorporate a benefit of attendance in the title? Or something that appeals to
my emotions? Or my desire to improve
my skills or avoid dangerous mistakes? Most
brochures seem to be written and designed to play it safe (they say nothing edgy,
provocative, or ‘out there’). A quote
from Mark Stevens’ new—and very worthwhile—book titled Your
Marketing Sucks (Crowne Business, 2003) really speaks to them: “Ironically,
playing it safe is perhaps the riskiest strategy you can follow, since it virtually
guarantees that what you have written will not move people to act, to buy, to
change their consumption patterns, to try novel services and products.” What if we applied those criteria to all of
our brochures for courses and publications? Are
they likely to move people to act? To change their consumption patterns? To try
new services or products? Right now I
think the answer for most CLE brochures is an emphatic
NO! Governing
boards are
under pressure these days from the Fortune 500 down. All boards, including CLE boards, should be taking hard looks at
themselves and doing what they can to improve their effectiveness. CLE leaders can help boards be more effective
by making and noting clear distinctions between policy issues and management
issues, by seeking explicit financial and other goals to avoid confusion and
frustration by directors and staff, and by encouraging the recruitment of appropriate
ranges of talent and experience to fill board
vacancies. Further, they can build board
strength by building in constructive dissent and criticism on the board and by
doing all they can to educate their board about the organization’s markets and
its operations and problems. Most CLE
board difficulties are not unique to them but rather the result of not having
recognized and resolved the structural issues in good board organization and
leadership. Recognizing those issues
and leading the way toward their resolution frequently requires the CLE staff
leaders to take the initiative.
Resources &
Strategies The
Association of CLE Administrators is our best source of CLE information, strategy,
technique and savvy colleagues. ACLEA’s mid-year meeting January 31 to February
3 in San Antonio, Texas promises valuable learning opportunities and great
networking! Be there! See www.aclea.org for details. Our
old friend Ronald Gross is still going strong embodying Socrates in teaching
roles in the U.S. and beyond. Ron did
two programs at Suffolk Law School in Boston in 2003 taking students and faculty
back to 5th century Athens and relating
Socrates’ teachings to contemporary society. As
Prof. David Yamada put it, Ron’s programs were “engaging, educational and even
(Heaven forbid for a law school!) fun”. Socrates would be a perfect keynoter for a major CLE program
or bar meeting sharing his wit, wisdom and “the glories that were
Greece” in a dazzling multi-media show using video, slides, costume and
theatrics. You can get complete info
from his web site at www.SOCRATESWAY.com More and
more of us are working
while away from our offices. I have a
favorite coffee spot here in Walpole that I enjoy immensely—and do a bit of work
in several days each week. But what about
connecting to the ‘Net for email and other research while away? www.WiFiFreeSpot.com can
point you to hotspots everywhere from hotels to gas stations and has a link
to Wireless Librarian, which lists many libraries that provide free wireless
Internet service. On http://intel.jiwire.com you
can enter a ZIP
code and get a list of hotspots within a mile radius. Please
contact
me for further information on any of the above items.
Following 20 years as Executive Director of a major state
CLE organization, Chuck now consults on strategic planning, marketing and
management challenges with CLE organizations, law firms, and law schools. He facilitates strategic planning sessions,
develops and critiques direct mail campaigns, and does operations audits for
CLE organizations. He is an affiliated
consultant with Altman Weil Inc. Chuck
welcomes your inquiries about consulting engagements. You can contact him at chuck@chuckbingaman.com,
at 603-756-9268, or at P.O. Box 390, Walpole, NH 03068. Past issues of this newsletter are archived
at www.chuckbingaman.com.
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