Weatherhead’s Executive Education program is designed to build outstanding leaders by enhancing their ability to understand and manage themselves and others. Tucker Ellis is the first law firm in the United States to partner with Weatherhead and invest in EI training for its entire firm.

“As a firm, we focus on providing all who we encounter with a better experience than they can get from any other law firm—and when we say ‘all,’ we really mean ‘all’: our clients, our communities, and each other,” said Tucker Ellis Managing Partner Joe Morford. “Study after study illustrates that organizations that improve their overall EI show marked improvement in the services they provide, their work product, and their financial performance. This program is a great step forward for us, and we’re excited to see the fruits of our efforts in the years to come.”

One group from Tucker Ellis will participate in three in-person training sessions this fall and work closely with executive coaches from Weatherhead between each class. The other group will learn through an online program teaching the same competencies as the in-person training.

“Though there are universal characteristics and common principles of leadership across industries, each unique environment, including the legal community, has its own challenges that guide us back to core competencies—such as improving one’s emotional intelligence—that are rooted in decades of research and experience,” said Melvin Smith, faculty director of Executive Education at Weatherhead, where he is also a professor of organizational behavior.

The program is a natural extension of a three-year-old partnership between Weatherhead and the CWRU School of Law to imbed emotional intelligence topics into its curriculum.

“Attorneys not only need to demonstrate knowledge and confidence to clients, but they also build relationships that can deepen when becoming more emotionally intelligent,” said Denise Douglas, associate dean of Executive Education at Weatherhead. “Having high emotional intelligence helps leaders relate to diverse clients and act as trusted advisors to bring about favorable outcomes.”

Last year, more than 3,000 people, representing nearly 600 organizations, took advantage of Weatherhead’s portfolio of more than 70 programs in Executive Education, which dive deep into complex business theories in brief periods of time to yield immediate and substantial professional development results.

The Weatherhead-Tucker Ellis partnership grew out of relationships made when Smith was invited to present for the firm’s leadership at a retreat a few years ago.

“I give the Tucker Ellis team credit for venturing into new territory. In many ways, we’re building this bridge together as we walk on it—and that is exciting and motivating,” said Smith. “This will open up new avenues for their leaders and clients and could pave the way for new applications for our programs in Executive Education.”