The Development of Tomorrow’s Leaders in Judicial Administration

Abstract

Leadership, or lack thereof, increasingly will define organizational success or failure. Few topics generate as much interest today. What is leadership? How do effective executives inspire and instruct their employees to do their best work? What do tomorrow’s leaders in judicial administration need to know and to do ? What are the pressing issues they must confront? What is the context in which leadership must operate today? This article explores some of the issues of leadership, ventures some tentative answers to the questions about the development of leadership in the courts, and describes four challenges and opportunities facing leaders in judicial administration in what promises to be a virtual transformation of the courts, including an increasing responsibility for social problem solving, institution building, and governance; the crumbling barrier between the public and private sectors; the need for continuous learning by individuals and court organizations alike; and the need to maintain strategic focus.