If you are like me, you sometimes see things in the news or social media that make you wonder where time has gone. For instance, it is now 2020 and our concerns about Y2K and the new millennium was 20 years ago. To put that into perspective, 20 years before Y2K, we were coming to the end of the Iranian hostage crisis and Ronald Reagan was about to become president.
The good thing about time is that we never stop growing or learning. I think that is one of the great things about the National Association for Presiding Judges and Court Executive Officers; it is an organization designed to let us learn from each other. We are joined in our mutual desire to provide our cities, states, and nation with the best judicial system we can offer.
The NAPCO 2020 Trial Court Leadership Conference will be held this August in one of our most historic cities, Boston. Massachusetts’ Trial Court Chief Justice Paula Carey and Court Administrator Jon Williams have a wonderful program planned. I was honored to host the very first NAPCO conference in my home of Cleveland, Ohio, just four short years ago. I am excited to now serve as Board Chair for the organization.
The 2020 NAPCO Trial Court Leadership Conference Theme is “The Importance of Trust and Collaboration in Leading Trial Courts”.
“Without trust we don’t truly collaborate; we merely coordinate or, at best, cooperate. It is trust that transforms a group of people into a team.” –Stephen M.R. Covey
This 5th Annual Leadership Academy and Conference will explore how leadership judges, court executives, and trial court teams can build more positive, productive trusting and collaborative relationships within complex judicial environments. Our everyday experiences tell us these characteristics are intimately interrelated and their very presence or absence in work groups and relationships is palpable and noticed. To be better leaders and strive to do the right things, it is important to understand the nature and dynamics of trust and collaboration, and how to build courts and justice systems that exemplify those virtues.
I look forward to seeing many of you this August. I hope that some of you that are considering to attend, and possibly first-time participants, mark your calendars now and register! If you have any questions or concerns about the Conference or the NAPCO Association, please do not hesitate to reach out by calling me or emailing me.
Judge John J. Russo