Wharton@Work

September 2025 | 

Rethinking Leadership, Influence, and Purpose

Rethinking Leadership, Influence, and Purpose

After more than three decades of running her own law firm and other entrepreneurial ventures in Los Angeles, Jennifer Gardner immersed herself in three Wharton Executive Education programs that transformed her understanding of leadership and influence.

A seasoned trial attorney, part-time administrative law judge, and continuing legal education (CLE) instructor, Gardner describes herself as a lifelong learner who has studied with many top experts over the years. But Wharton, she says, was different: “I've gone to a lot of places. I've received certifications from some people who are at the top of their game, but these programs were incredible.”

She completed Women’s Executive Leadership: Business Strategies for Success, Executive Presence and Influence: Persuasive Leadership Development, and Understanding the Brain: Using Neuroscience to Deliver Better Business Results. “I don’t work for a large organization. I work for myself. But I’m fascinated by leadership, and I believe lawyers need to fundamentally rethink what it means to do our job,” she says. “We're not just advocates. We're leaders. We influence people every day. And yet, we're never taught how.”

Shifting the Paradigm: From Advocate to Leader

Gardner describes her Wharton experience as a personal and professional paradigm shift. In the Women’s Executive Leadership (WEXL) program, she met high-powered women from major corporations grappling with the same challenges she experiences in courtrooms and boardrooms.

“We worked on some complex, open-ended case studies, and had to role-play to resolve the situations described. Everyone struggled — even the women with MBAs and impressive corporate titles. That was eye-opening for me. We’re all solving complex problems, and we all question ourselves,” she says. “Seeing that was so validating.”

The experience helped Gardner realize that leadership isn’t a title or position — it’s a mindset that can be learned. “Many people don’t see themselves as leaders. But the truth is, if you’re responsible for outcomes, you’re already leading. You just may not be doing it consciously,” she says.

At Wharton, she found the tools to lead more intentionally. “Leadership is not simply about commanding people. It's about trust, emotional intelligence, and the ability to influence. These are learnable skills. Wharton confirmed that for me.”

Influence, Power, and the Confidence to Use Both

The Executive Presence and Influence program brought Gardner even closer to her goal of helping other lawyers understand the power of persuasion. “Most lawyers are taught to argue, not persuade,” she says. “We rely too much on data and logic and forget the emotional component that actually drives decisions.”

Through the program, she learned how to integrate warmth, confidence, and competence — what she now considers the three pillars of persuasive leadership. “I've always thought that. But to hear professors from Wharton confirm it was validating. That was a huge takeaway. I know I'm on the right track and I understand this correctly.”

The timing was perfect: Gardner was already being invited to speak at legal conferences and bar associations, but her Wharton experience gave her both the gravitas and practical frameworks to deliver deeper value. “Just last week, I did a training for the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Women's Caucus on emotions and persuasion. I quoted Wharton faculty and program content throughout,” she says.

The Science Behind the Connection

If Executive Presence and Influence gave her the vocabulary to better practice and teach influence, Understanding the Brain gave her a scientific foundation.

“Lawyers often over-explain and overload with information because we’re perfectionists and don’t like being wrong,” she says. “But the neuroscience program helped me understand how the brain actually processes information — and how it doesn’t. That changed how I communicate.”

She now teaches the concept of “complex neural networks” rather than relying on overly simplified models like system one-system two thinking. And she applies what she learned in court. “Since attending the program, I had a judge call me by my first name on the record — and we had never met. That highly unusual show of familiarity tells me something about the emotional rapport I’m building.”

A New Chapter, Not a Career Change

Before Wharton, Gardner was contemplating a career pivot. Now, she sees her future more clearly: not a reinvention, but an expansion. She continues to run her law practice while building a growing business as a speaker, consultant, and educator on leadership, influence, and communication.

She’s already spoken to organizations like the Colorado Supreme Court’s Legal Entrepreneurs for Justice and the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association. Her next goal: the American Bar Association. “There’s so much gatekeeping in law,” she says. “But if you invest in yourself and seek out the right education, like I did at Wharton, you can break through that. And then you can help others do the same.”

The Wharton Difference

As a confirmed lifelong learner, Gardner has studied with experts from many top institutions, but she says nothing compares to Wharton. “The programs were mind-blowing. They were firehoses of information, but the way the faculty facilitated the learning was incredible. It wasn’t just lectures — it was beautifully designed, interactive, and deeply human.”

She was also struck by the caliber of her fellow participants. “I’m still in touch with many of them. Some have come to visit me in LA. I would say real friendships came out of it. And the professors, all of them, were exceptional.”

When asked why the experiences in the three programs were so powerful, Gardner was quick to answer: “Because Wharton made me bold.” That comment, originally shared by one of her classmates, has stayed with her. “The programs gave me the confidence to own my authority and bring new ideas into the world. It’s a transformation that influences not just my career, but every interaction I have.”