Alexis Stokes stands on the hilltop, looking back on a winding path studded with leadership roles, writing experience and lessons learned from hard work. Dean of The Bill Munday School of Business, Stokes reflects on her time spent as Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of the Harvard Journal of Legislation.
“At Harvard Law, it is very much the culture that students participate in one or more of the student-edited and student-run large journals,” Stokes said. “As a first-year student at Harvard, several of the upperclassmen who I had become friends with encouraged me to consider the Harvard Journal of Legislation. I liked it because it was nonpartisan, it was non ideological. Many of the journals have an ideological bent, but this one did not. I knew it would be a great opportunity to hone my research and writing and editing skills, which are core skills for any lawyer in training.”
From her time as EIC of the Harvard Journal of Legislation to her years as a lawyer to her current position in the business school, it may seem that her career path has been random. What ties all of these experiences together is the aspect of leadership education.
“In each of those experiences, you develop leadership capabilities, you learn how to work with teams, you learn how to manage teams and you learn how to ensure the long term success of an organization,” Stokes said. “As the leader of an organization, you can’t just be worried about what you’re doing this year, or what you’re doing this month. You have to be thinking several years out for the sustainability of the organization.”
Stokes has always had many irons in the fire, and her desire to lead began at a young age. She expresses a philosophy she carries about leadership: leaders are made, not born.
“I have, throughout my entire educational career, tried to take advantage of any opportunities for leadership development and growth,” Stokes said. “That started in elementary school, to be frank. I was that kid who was running for president of things, who was leading organizations, leading Honor Society, leading the debate club, leading the Latin club. Any opportunity for leadership, I took it. You learn every time you do that, because it’s never perfect, right? But you learn and you grow.”Though Stokes always strove for leadership positions, she recognized that she didn’t always know how to be a leader. It wasn’t just about being able to say she had led a group, it was about what she was able to take away from those roles and apply them elsewhere.
“The lessons that you learn working in a space like that translate beautifully to any leadership experiences down the line,” Stokes said. “Seeing both sides of an argument, understanding multiple perspectives, bringing people from disparate backgrounds together to solve problems. Those skills I use every day here at St. Ed’s. I’ve used them almost every day in my academic career and in my career in corporate law practice before that.”
Stokes felt strongly that her work as EIC of the Harvard Journal of Legislation contributed to her work ethic. Not only did it prepare her for a career in law, most of which revolves around writing, but it also prepared her to be an upstanding citizen of society, striving to learn about the world around her and form ideas based on fact and experience.
“Stay curious,” she said. “Keep your eyes open and find opportunities to learn and grow because they’re everywhere. You have to be open minded about taking them and you have to put a lot of energy and hard work into it. Nothing comes easily, especially in the world today. Keep working hard, hustling, prove your work ethic, hone your skills, take constructive criticism wherever you get it and use it to make you better.”
