Accelerated Leadership Program (Online)

The Accelerated Leadership Program is an intensive, four-day program designed to empower emerging leaders with the concepts and tools they need to effectively influence strategy and lead teams in today’s ever-changing, global landscape. The program prepares lawyers to:

• Identify and apply personal leadership strategies to better balance responsibilities as an emerging leader with elevated responsibility within the firm.
• Build team leadership skills required for their evolving leadership role by learning to influence and motivate their team more effectively.
• Develop stronger client relationships by effectively negotiating with, collaborating with, and managing clients to ensure opportunities for growth and long-term success for their business.

The Learning Model

Case studies, lectures, classroom discussions, hands-on exercises, and small group discussions focused on law firms and other professional service firms will afford participants the opportunity to discuss the determinants of sustained firm success and effective leadership in such organizations.

The sessions will help participants work through possible approaches to the issues that confront partners with leadership responsibilities in law firms. Participants will reflect on, and discuss effective leadership in the face of real life challenges in professional service setting, including sustaining productivity and engagement in a remote environment

Participants in the program will develop a practical understanding of critical business and leadership frameworks and how they can be applied effectively in a challenging market.

Key Concepts:

• Client leadership: How to deepen and broaden client relationships and communicate more effectively with clients about value, pricing, and collaboration.
• Practice leadership: How to analyze and develop business unit strategy, build and drive internal collaboration, and develop a keen awareness of the critical levers for building a thriving practice.
• People and team leadership: How to develop, motivate, and manage people and teams more effectively, and understand and apply research-based recommendations for achieving organizational and team buy-in.
• Personal leadership: How to have more impact as a leader by building self-awareness and a deeper understanding of how to work across differences more effectively.

About the Format

The Accelerated Leadership Program will take place on the Harvard Zoom platform. There will be two program sessions every day between the hours of 10:00 a.m. ET and 4:00 p.m. ET. Accepted participants should reserve this window on their calendars until we circulate a finalized program schedule. Each session will be between 1 – 2 hours long, and we will schedule a break of at least 30 minutes between the sessions.

In order to complete the program and earn a certificate of completion, participants are expected to attend every session. As with our on-campus programs, class size will be limited.

View the program schedule→
Schedule is subject to change. 

Building Community and Networks

Our highly interactive sessions and workshops will include frequent breakout group discussions and activities. These opportunities will help ensure that participants get to know each other and learn from each other’s thoughts, ideas and perspectives. Additionally, participants who complete the program will join our global Alumni Network, through which they will be invited to attend future residential and online programs offered by HLS Executive Education.

Who Should Attend?

The Accelerated Leadership Program is tailored for partners with 12-19 years of professional experience (on average) and who are seeking to advance more successfully to the next level of leadership. Participants in this program should be positioned as a partner in their firm at the time of attendance and should manage or oversee other lawyers and/or professionals in their current role. Those anticipating promotion to partner within their firm should apply after the promotion has been finalized.

Participants in previous cohorts of the programs have included practice leaders, office managing partners, team managers, heads and co-heads of practice groups, partners-in-charge, and firm-wide committee members. Class size is small and we encourage diversity of participants—from different geographies and from different types of law firms.

Visit the Admissions page for information on the process.

About the Faculty

Our core faculty are members of the Harvard Law School faculty – distinguished academicians, educators, researchers, authors, and practitioners in their respective fields. Representing various disciplines, they are close to practice through relationships with law firm leaders and General Counsel and through personal involvement as consultants for top firms around the world.

Program Teaching Team

Heidi Gardner – Program Chair

Kevin Doolan

Rebecca Newton

Scott Westfahl

Learn more about the Accelerated Leadership Program faculty→