Eight Core Qualities of General Counsel and How to Achieve Them is my most-read article on this blog, receiving many hits per day and more than 2,500 views since it was published in the late summer of 2016. (Click here to access the article.)
As a coach, I often receive requests from General Counsel, Assistant General Counsel and other in-house attorneys – as well as law firm partners and others who wish to obtain those roles – to coach them on building their capacity and visibility as a business partner within an organization. Both of these aspects are important – exercising the right proactivity, judgment and skills and being recognized and rewarded by the Board and senior management for such contributions. This involves not only building relationships and moving outside of what is commonly called one’s comfort zone – a lawyer with excellent substantive legal skills – but also learning how to position oneself as a strategic member of the leadership team.
To succeed as General Counsel, you need not only to build relationships and move outside of what may be your comfort zone – a lawyer with excellent substantive legal skills – but also position yourself as a strategic member of the leadership team.
I intend further explore the expanded General Counsel role in the coming months, so please subscribe to my blog or sign up for my mailing list if this is a topic that moves you. In the meantime, I have started to compile a list of articles around the web from recent years that have addressed the evolving General Counsel role, which I am posting below to help you explore and master the expanded General Counsel relationship.
If you hold a CEO, CIO, CFO, COO, CTO, General Counsel, law firm or other role and would like to post another resource in the comments or join the conversation, I appreciate your input.
I may update this list from time to time. Thanks in advance!
Attorneys – General Counsel and In-House
Vision, Judgment, Capacity Building and Leadership
“Eight Core Qualities of Successful General Counsel and How to Achieve Them,” Segal Coaching Blog, Anne Marie Segal.
“So You Want to Be General Counsel? How to Maximize Your Chances,” ACC Docket, David M. Love III, Mark Roellig.
“Do Lawyers Make Better CEO’s than MBAs?,” Harvard Business Review, by M. Todd Henderson.
“The General Counsel as Senior Leader: More than “Just a Lawyer,” Korn Ferry Institute, John Amer.
“What GCs and CCOs Can Learn from Each Other,” Thomson Reuters, Thomas Kim.
“An Open Letter to GCs and Law Firms,” ACC Docket, Daniel Desjardins.
“General Counsel: Guardian and Conscience of the Company,” Forbes, Mark A. Cohen.
“The Rise of the General Counsel,” Harvard Business Review, Ben W. Heineman, Jr.
“General Counsel’s New Role: Business Strategist,” Forbes, Brian Jones.
Anne Marie Segal is an executive coach, writer, resume strategist and former practicing attorney (including as a law firm partner and Deputy General Counsel of a private equity and hedge fund). The majority of her clients are senior attorneys, and she has coached hundreds of professionals across law, finance, engineering, technology, marketing, non-profits, government and other fields.
Anne Marie is also author of Master the Interview and the newly published Know Yourself, Grow Your Career: The Personal Value Proposition Workbook, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other retailers.
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