Law Schools Are Becoming The New Business Schools For Future Leaders

Inc., How Law Schools Are Becoming the New Business Schools for Future Leaders:

There's a revolution going on right now in top law schools across the country. They're starting to teach leadership — and trust me, it's not an easy task. Some, however, are succeeding beyond their wildest dreams. 

Law students aren't used to learning about how to develop leadership skills, and professors certainly aren't used to teaching it. Getting left-brained, analytic, hyper-competitive law students to genuinely embrace soft and squishy concepts like empathy and teamwork requires a different mindset. In fact, it requires a new way of educating altogether. Century-old Ivy League law schools, chock full of Socratic professors like the fictional and highly cantankerous Professor Kingsfield in the movie Paper Chase, simply won't suffice any longer. A new paradigm is needed. A fundamentally new approach is required. 

But it isn't easy to teach old dogs new tricks. That's why most come up short or avoid the challenge altogether. ...

Fortunately, some law schools aren't shying away from reinventing themselves. A handful of administrators are at the forefront, including Dean Heather Gerken and former assistant dean Anastasia Boyko at Yale Law School, Jennifer Leonard at the University of Pennsylvania, and Scott Westfahl at Harvard Law School.

In true Schumpeterian fashion, they are rethinking and revamping legal education, focusing on self-awareness, empathy, resilience, and vulnerability. These soft skills are difficult to learn but essential for success in today's unforgiving and unpredictable world, regardless of what careers law school graduates ultimately pursue.