|
Dear [first_name],
For this edition of our newsletter, we are delighted to share a reflection for HLS alumni from Professor Scott Westfahl:
Each month, I receive 3-4 emails from former HLS students looking for advice about transitioning their careers, typically away from BigLaw. They are exhausted from the pressure of billed hours and an environment mostly devoid of a sense of meaning and purpose beyond maximizing revenue and hours. That disassociation from meaning and purpose can have profound mental health consequences, especially at a time when so many of us are facing increasing uncertainty in our personal and professional lives. As a faculty member teaching about leadership for our law students and in the HLS Executive Education leadership programs I run for lawyers from all over the world, I have been spending a lot of time thinking about how we can return to a sense of higher purpose, individually and across our profession.
Two years ago, I was introduced to a wonderful assistant dean at Harvard Divinity School, Laura Tuach, who connected me with the interdisciplinary faculty team developing Harvard Business School’s newest leadership course “The Spiritual Lives of Leaders.” The course launched this spring and was a great success – students were so grateful to have a forum to talk about the connection between their spiritual lives and becoming leaders who want to make a positive difference in the world. The core learnings, for me, were drawn from the work of Dr. Lisa Miller at Columbia and her book “The Awakened Brain.” She and her team prove through neuroscience that human beings are pre-wired for spiritual connection and a sense of higher purpose and connectivity. She distinguishes between our “Achieving Brain,” which we use to get things done, meet deadlines, meet revenue and billing targets, etc., and our “Awakened Brain,” which sees the bigger picture and reminds us of that sense of something greater than ourselves. The Awakened Brain is cultivated and engaged by spiritual practices – meditation, spending time in nature, journaling and reflection, spiritual and religious rituals, etc. Neuroscience proves that such spiritual practices are neuroprotective against isolation, loneliness, depression, and suicide. Given the mental health crisis across our profession, there are critical lessons to be learned here.
Additionally, in my HLS Executive Education work I teach leadership to lawyers who often need to be the “conscience” of their organizations or clients (e.g., as general counsel or outside counsel). In those moments when business executives may be tempted to take actions that may not feel morally right, my hope is that lawyers can engage their awakened brains to incorporate into their client advice a sense of higher purpose and meaning, staying true to their values and helping their clients to take actions more consistent the long-term good of all. To stay anchored in these uncertain times -- and under all of the extrinsic pressures we face to drive productivity and “get things done” -- we need to cultivate and engage our innate spirituality. The world will be a better place for it, and we will be healthier and more fulfilled.
Best,
Scott Westfahl
Professor, Harvard Law School
* * *
|
The Harvard Law School Association Recent Graduates Network