Excerpted from So You Want to Be a General Counsel?
Expertise in the law is not enough to reach and succeed in the general counsel role. Attorneys aspiring to be general counsel must develop a broader set of skills and attributes that they may not have acquired through private, government or corporate practice. What are the skills attorneys should be developing?
First-class communications skills. The general counsel must be able to adapt communications to the audience and simplify complex legal matters as necessary, putting critical issues in plain language for business people with varying degrees of familiarity with legal jargon. The converse is necessary too: You must be able to clearly explain and translate business objectives to other legal experts.
Gravitas and executive presence. A general counsel must be effective in presenting and communicating with large and small audiences, significant decision makers, boards and employees. Lacking direct authority, you must have the presence, speech and substance to engender confidence and credibility with the board, CEO and other business leaders. The general counsel must come across as confident but also thoughtful.
Strategic thinking. An effective general counsel anticipates risks and is creative in identifying proactive solutions to eliminate or mitigate risks and advance the business. A non-strategic lawyer will make decisions too early or too late in the process and miss potential solutions. Identifying and preserving opportunities and options are key strategic traits.
Management experience. Knowing how to operate in a complex and matrixed corporate environment and manage legal issues through an internal legal department are critical skills for a general counsel. This includes experience managing external resources, as well as an understanding of the financial management of a corporate department, including assessing the cost and allocation of resources. Also, a keen awareness of concepts such as return on investment and break-even analysis will help you convey the value of various legal projects and investments and ease the minds of your business counterparts.
A nose for talent. This is true regardless of whether the general counsel is the only lawyer at the firm or is leading a team of hundreds. The ability to attract, select, develop, direct, motivate and drive performance from highly diverse teams is one of the most important traits of a general counsel, as is determining what resources are necessary. The general counsel also needs to be able to assemble geographically dispersed legal teams (internal and external) to address legal or regulatory challenges, with an understanding of and sensitivity to cultural differences. Experience operating across geographic boundaries, possessing international legal knowledge or having had an international assignment can be valuable. Consequently, many general counsels have worked abroad.
Familiarity with operational functions. Because the general counsel is usually a member of the executive leadership team, you must be knowledgeable about the strategies and business activities of the company. An understanding of business and key business concepts (i.e., finance, accounting, statistics, marketing, etc.) is a requirement. The ability to contribute broadly to a host of non-legal business matters and to be conversant in discussing them with investment bankers, senior leadership, the CEO and the board are critical. Increasingly, general counsel pursue MBA degrees; those who don’t instead have on-the-job experience, an undergraduate degree in business or have taken classes and workshops on key business and financial concepts.
Industry-specific knowledge. This is especially important where skills or expertise are not easily transferable, such as in financial services, life sciences or other highly regulated fields. This experience is hard to substitute and really can only be developed by being an in-house attorney in a particular industry. Choose an industry that resonates with your interests.
Relationship-building. You will need to create associations of confidence, trust and respect with colleagues, the CEO and the board of directors. These relationships are built or destroyed based on your track record under fire. Developing these relationships requires interpersonal savvy, the ability to read your audience — their goals, objectives, values and interests — and the ability to tactfully modulate your approach to the different groups and individuals. Experience interacting with these constituencies is something you generally do not acquire in outside practice.
Vision. Most companies want someone in a leadership role who “reaches to touch the stars.” A candidate who always wants to do things better, aspires to understand the business and attain something higher will be attractive to selection committees. If you create sincere and sustainable passion around a compelling vision, team members will readily follow. You must inspire others to act and to do the right things.
Learn more about the things an aspiring general counsel must do to ensure success in the role, in the full article published by ACC Docket in January/February 2012.