My unexpected lesson from jury duty
We’re back from our team Break Week, and it was wonderful! I’m so excited to dive into today’s topic. It’s been something I’ve wanted to write about ever since it happened.
Just a few months ago, I finally got to do something I’ve always wanted to do: I served on a jury.
For many people, that’s probably the last thing they want to do. But growing up, I watched my dad in action as an attorney. Both of my parents instilled their passion for justice, fairness, and integrity in me, and it’s always been a dream of mine to get to experience a trial as a juror and do my civic duty.
It was my first time ever being summoned, and I was chosen to serve as a juror for a criminal case in Houston. Rather than getting into the details of the case itself, I want to share what I found most surprising about the experience, which is how the work I do in leadership, especially around courageous conversations, played a part.
For two days, our six-person jury listened as the prosecution and defense teams presented their arguments. Around noon on the second day, we finally went into the deliberation room, where they had lunch waiting for us.
As we ate, we talked about everything but the case and what we thought about it. It was the elephant in the room. I got the sense that everyone was apprehensive about sharing their thoughts because they were worried that their opinions might be different from the rest of the group.
I was eager to dive into it, so I decided to be the one to break the ice. Just like I would at the start of a tense team meeting, I got everyone’s attention and proposed that we begin by having everyone share where they stood on what the verdict should be.
I was thinking that we would share out loud because that’s my style, but another woman in our group, who I could tell was an amazing leader, suggested that everyone write their opinions on scraps of paper and then hand them to me. When I tallied them up, it became clear that we were nowhere near consensus, and we’d have a long way to go before we reached a unanimous decision. That’s when my leadership and facilitation experience really kicked in.
First, we needed a leader who would deliver the verdict. I asked if there was anyone who was eager to do it, and I noticed that the same woman who suggested we share our votes anonymously smiled when I asked. I nominated her and everyone else agreed, and just like that, we had our foreperson.
Next, I knew that in order to get aligned, we needed to know more about each other’s perspectives on the case, so I asked each person to share why they felt the way they did. I give my fellow jurors a lot of credit for how the discussion unfolded from there: As each person shared, everyone listened intently, which made us all feel really heard and understood. Because of the environment that everyone helped create in that deliberation room, I noticed that each person felt more comfortable sharing their perspective and became more open as time went on.
Still, it was hard. There were so many nuances to the case, and there’s a lot of pressure that comes with the responsibility of handing down a verdict that can totally change someone’s life—for better or worse. None of us took this decision lightly, and we were very aware of how important it was for us to do our job fairly and well.
By giving everyone the space to share and really listening to each other, we were able to identify one area where there was the most disagreement. So, then, our discussion became about that one thing instead of the case as a whole. We requested another look at the evidence so that we could examine it together and consider it through the lens of that one sticking point.
After we reviewed the evidence, there was just one person left who was not in agreement with the rest of the group. So, we did the same thing as before: We listened to his concerns and remained curious about his perspective. And as we did, he actually changed his mind. Throughout this process, I was amazed at how everyone was able to be so understanding, respectful, and also curious about different perspectives.
When we finally reached our unanimous decision, we took a second as a group to marvel at the fact that we’d started so far apart in some ways, but in just a few hours, we’d reached a decision we all felt good about and could stand behind. We felt like we were a team. We even joked that we wouldn’t mind deliberating on more cases together, if that were possible.
But the most surprising thing happened after the trial was over. I assumed that after the verdict was read, that would be the end of it, but instead, the judge asked us to return to the deliberation room. She joined us a few minutes later, along with both the prosecution and defense teams, which were made up of young lawyers. The judge then facilitated a feedback session with all of us.
She began by telling the lawyers what she thought they did really well and what they could have done better. She called out opportunities that they had left on the table, and even said that she’d tried to hint at them during the trial. Then, she gave us jurors the floor and asked us what we thought the lawyers did well and what they could have done better. She even asked us what she could have done better as the judge.
None of us held back on our feedback. There had been times when each side had performed really well during the trial, but there were also times when they both made moves that caused us to question their case. We went around the room and gave each person a chance to share their impressions, and the attorneys asked us questions of their own. They were curious about how specific things they did or said came across, and I could tell that they were so grateful for our candor and that the feedback session was really valuable for them. We even gave the judge feedback about the remarkable culture that she was able to create in her courtroom and how the environment helped us be more engaged as jurors.
Overall, my first experience as a juror was a 10 out of 10. It was interesting and meaningful. I thought my biggest takeaway would be the case itself, but it was actually that courageous conversations show up everywhere, even in a deliberation room.
How about you? Have you ever served on a jury? If so, what was your experience of having courageous conversations with your fellow jurors? And if not, has there ever been a time when courageous conversations happened in a place you least expected? Hit “reply” and tell me all about it. My team and I absolutely love reading your responses!
Big hugs,
