Legal Marketing & PR

I knew something was wrong

By Edward Poll, J.D., M.B.A., CMC

9-11 has become a date fixed in infamy. Like December 7th (Pearl Harbor). Like many other dates.

The other day, I was listening to NPR; the topic under discussion was 1945 ... another date of disaster. On that date, a B-25 plowed into the Empire State Building. Fourteen people died, but it was a tragedy nonetheless. It was an accident, not premeditated murder, not a political statement. Yet, it was a large plane colliding into a tall building in a densely populated area.

Funny how we forget history. I never learned of this. The people of the time suffered and experienced pain, but it did not become a cause celebre. But, also funny (in a sad way),  how the politicians of our day used this event for their personal benefit. Sad that this one event spelled the historical demarcation for Pres. Bush's presidency and how everything done after that was tied to this one event. Sad (not funny) that so many of our civil liberties have been peeled back after decades and centuries of fighting to attain them. Contrast that with 1945 when that event was the catalyst that created the Federal Tort Claims Act of 1946 that allowed citizens to sue the federal government for injuries visited on them by the government.  One might say that the government did something to soothe us ... rather than to rile us up as we have been in the last 7 years ...

Just a personal observation on the importance of leadership ... leadership that soothes us and that helps us recover, reassemble and build a better future. Lyndon Johnson failed to do this and it took us at least a generation to overcome his folly. George Bush failed to do this and I'm fearful it will take us more than a generation to recover, if ever.  And here, I'm merely mentioning economics, not liberties which seem to be lost altogether.

Leadership is essential for the effective performance of a team ... There are many examples in government and in industry.  Law firms need to find leaders to better serve their clients as well as the members of the firm. Leadership skills can be taught ... and law firms need to focus on this skill if they want to advance.

Full post as published by Law Biz Blog on July 31, 2008 (boomark / email).