In May of 2021, I joined my husband and son on a rock-climbing trip. While the focus of the trip was having fun as a family, the trip quickly turned into a real-life training in leadership and coaching employees.
Posts By: Sarah Mathews
Management Musings
The consensus among scientists is that the universe is about 13.8 billion years old, with the earth being approximately 4.54 billion years old. There are various ways to measure the universe’s age. One particularly intriguing method is based on the… Read more »
A Beacon of Hope: Transforming Municipal Courts with Comprehensive Services
In an era where justice and rehabilitation hold increasing importance, municipal courts shine as a beacon of hope and progress. Local courts go beyond traditional justice by addressing the root causes of criminal behavior, facilitating individuals’ rebuilding of their lives,… Read more »
Courting AI: Understanding AI in Courts
Courting AI: Navigating Artificial Intelligence in Courts is the National Association for Court Management’s (NACM) 22nd guide. Courting AI is available for download from the NACM Store. The guide is free for NACM members and $10 for nonmembers. In addition… Read more »
A Question of Ethics
Welcome to the latest episode of A Question of Ethics Conversation. Kevin Bowling moderates a discussion of the ethical issues surrounding the burgeoning topic of the courts’ use of artificial intelligence (AI). Kevin discusses a definition of AI and specifically generative AI,… Read more »
Assistive Listening Systems in Courtrooms: What Court Managers Need to Know
Ensuring all participants and observers can hear clearly during court proceedings is essential to fair and efficient trials. If jurors, litigators, defendants, judges, transcriptionists, and others in a courtroom cannot hear and understand what is being said, the due process… Read more »
We’re in This Together: Improving Outcomes for Justice-Involved People with Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders
Today, Deena Davis is a certified peer support specialist who works in the same treatment court that saved her life and reunited her family. Deena grew up in small-town Georgia, where she was an honor-roll student and captain of the… Read more »
Courtside Conversation
Nathaniel MingoDirector of Court Services Riverdale (Georgia) Municipal Court2 Full-Time JudgesNACM Member since 2014 Dedicated court professional Nathaniel Mingo is on the move. Fueled by his “passion for the judicial system and his desire for professional growth within the field… Read more »
What’s the Ideal Manager-Employee Relationship?
You may have seen me featured as “The Candid Boss” for The Muse, an online career resource destination. One of the questions I am often asked is, can managers and employees be friends at work?
An even more essential question to ask is, what does an ideal manager-employee relationship look like?
NACM Holds 2024 Annual Conference
The NACM Annual Conference was held in New Orleans in July, with 674 people attending and 49 participating virtually. The theme was Leadership Opportunities and Challenges for Our Nation’s Courts: Leading Leaders into the New Tomorrow. Scholarship Recipients Share Their… Read more »
President’s Message
The calendar has turned to yet another year. Many of us have cleaned our work areas, purged ourselves of items no longer relevant, and are preparing to embrace the coming of a new day—or are we? Change …ah, a word not… Read more »
President’s Message
When you are asked your approach to leadership or even tackling an involved project, are you a solitary actor or do you prefer to work within the framework of a group or team? I ask you to ponder this question… Read more »
Management Musings
“When the legend becomes fact, print the legend,” is a famous line from John Ford’s acclaimed film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. The idea is that when the fictional story is better than what truly happened, it was better… Read more »
Management Musings
The literature on setting goals is replete with talk about the importance of visualizing and then working toward a benchmark that an individual, group, or institution sets for itself. The goals for the project, the month, the quarter, the year,… Read more »
A Question of Ethics
Today’s Question of Ethics Conversation looks at several ethical challenges regarding employee performance. It discusses four questions many supervisors face in their oversight role. Moderator Samantha Wallis: Deputy Trial Court Administrator, Supreme Court, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Panelists Lizzie Alipaz: Court… Read more »
A Question of Ethics
Welcome to the latest episode of A Question of Ethics Conversation. The topic for this discussion is Organization Fairness. The October 26, 2023, Question of Ethics Conversation, hosted by Samantha Wallis, brought up many interesting questions. One set of questions… Read more »
Courtside Conversation
Whitney Freese
Whitney Freese Senior Management AnalystClark County (Washington) Superior Court11 Judges, 4 Court CommissionersNACM Member since 2021CORE® Champion Whitney Freese, a long-serving court professional, has reached a major milestone in her field. After holding various court positions and soon after joining NACM,… Read more »
2023 NACM State of the Profession
One of the highlights of the 2023 Annual NACM Conference in Tampa, Florida was the State of the Profession speech, delivered by NACM President Jeffrey Tsunekawa. NACM Board member and vice chair of the Governance Committee Nicole Garcia summarized President Tsunekawa’s approach…
Courtside Conversation
Cheryl StoneCourt Administrator Clark County (Washington) Superior Court12 judges, 3 full-time court commissioners, 1 half-time court commissionerNACM Member since 2007 Cheryl Stone, a seasoned court professional of more than 20 years, is a long-standing, respected member of NACM. As it… Read more »
2023 CourtFutures Top Trends to Watch: By NACM Respondents
We have summarized the best thinking of over 1,700 court professionals, with various subsets having reviewed 241 different possible scenarios of the future.1 This report highlights recent assessments, focuses on responses from NACM members, and compares their assessments with those of the overall group…
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