Transformational Leadership at the CDO

After learning about transformational leadership in Theories and Models I have been able to identify it within my own office. Transformational leadership is defined as identifying needed change and guiding that change through inspiring team members/ followers. This model of leadership is one that the head capital defender of my office uses to keep the staff of the CDO motivated and successful.

A lot of the cases and clients that the CDO handles can carry heavy emotional baggage and oftentimes it is easy to feel discouraged and overwhelmed. The lead capital defender, Dan, makes sure to create a work environment that offers support and encourages the staff to be open about their feelings and their needs. He also makes sure to remind the office of the importance of the work that is being done. Through these conversations, the staff is able to keep their motivation which often leads to achieving the office’s goals. 

A range of issues within the criminal justice system are presented to the CDO, which is typically what the lead capital defender rallies the staff behind. The staff are all incredibly passionate about the work being done in the office which makes it easier for Dan to inspire them into action when morale falls. The other attorneys and mitigation specialists also engage in working to keep staff motivated, particularly when interacting with interns. For many of the CDO interns, including myself, these are some of the first cases that they are working on that are a matter of life and death. A lot of times we have questions about how the full time staff deals with the emotions that come with the job and they offer really valuable insight. During a mitigation interview training session, the topic of addressing the possibility with a death sentence with a client came up. We talked about how difficult it was to broach those subjects with clients and how disheartening it could be to the staff. But the attorney and mitigation specialist present during the conversation talked about how the little victories make all of the work worth it, like when a client is able to connect with his mother or when a death sentence is taken off the table. This kind of conversation inspires action and motivation and keeps the CDO staff working diligently.