The Brave and Generous Work of Noticing: Why Recognition Matters
If there’s anything I’ve learned from years of working as lawyer, strategist, and executive, it’s that leaders don’t emerge accidentally. They are cultivated in small, steady acts of recognition – the kind of positive reinforcement that anchors people to the profession and signals that their work has weight.
Think of a lawyer you admire. The one that is the most inspiring, the most capable, the most effective. No matter who comes to mind, one fact about them is true: no one becomes a great lawyer in isolation. We learn and grow because someone names our potential before we fully see it in ourselves. We step forward because a colleague, a mentor, or sometimes a near-stranger says, “You’re ready. This matters. Try.”
Recognition isn’t just about applause. It’s the infrastructure of our field – the quiet design of how a profession renews itself.
As Chair of the OBA Leadership and Recognition Committee, I have the privilege of watching this play out behind the scenes. By the time most names reach us, someone has already done the brave and generous work of noticing. Noticing judgment. Noticing steadiness. Noticing a lawyer who shows up when the moment is inconvenient. Noticing the early signals of leadership long before the résumé looks “complete.”
Leaders don’t emerge accidentally
If there’s anything I’ve learned from years of working as lawyer, strategist, and executive, it’s that leaders don’t emerge accidentally. They are cultivated in small, steady acts of recognition – the kind of positive reinforcement that anchors people to the profession and signals that their work has weight.
And yet, lawyers are not always comfortable with the idea of nominating others for recognition. We tend to equate recognition with self-promotion or worry that we’re overstating someone’s contributions. Quite honestly, many of us are truly short on time. But here’s the truth: recognition is not an exercise in hierarchy. It is an act of stewardship that has deeper implications for the profession than we think.
When we intentionally identify emerging or seasoned leaders, we protect the long-term stability of the profession. We reinforce the behaviours we want to see more of. We tell our future leaders that their work matters not only because it is excellent, but because it bolsters the broader system on which we all rely.
A nomination – for a role, opportunity or award – says: “Your contribution has value.” Recognition didn’t create integrity. But it does give people permission to lead with it.
That’s what we’re trying to build when we ask you to put names forward.
Advocacy is not just a skill – it’s a responsibility
There’s another structural truth I’ve learned watching many leadership trajectories: emerging leaders show up earliest in culture, long before they hold titles. They are the ones who make our profession feel coherent when it could easily fracture. They are the ones other people quietly rely on. They are the ones who understand that advocacy is not just a skill – it’s a responsibility.
And when we fail to name them, we risk losing them. To burnout. To invisibility. To the gravitational pull of other sectors that recognize their value more quickly.
Consider:
- Who has shown leadership beyond their position?
- Who has influenced outcomes through acumen rather than volume?
- Who has steadied a team, a file, a client, or a community? Who has taken on the unglamorous work that holds the profession together?
- Who has taken on the unglamorous work that holds the profession together?
These are the people who should be nominated. Not just those who already have profile - but those who are building the profession quietly, consistently, structurally.
Strengthening our pipeline
A nomination is not a small gesture. It tells someone that their way of lawyering matters — not because it is flashy, but because it is principled. It reinforces our pipeline of leaders who understand that culture is foundational and that the profession’s future rests on clarity, integrity, and good judgment.
The profession is stronger when we recognize the people who strengthen it.
And often, those people are closer than we think.
If someone came to mind as worthy of recognition, please put their name forward in our Recognition 365: The Good Work Database of the OBA or nominate them for one of our many Association or Section Awards.
