In early August Corporate Counsel announced the 2017 list of Transformative Leaders—those women general counsel who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership and business acumen as they have guided their organizations through often treacherous roads to achieve success. These honorees stand out because they are business strategists, complex problem-solvers, and of course, great lawyers. And as important (especially to them) is that they are great people-leaders—they care more about the success of the team than their individual success.

On October 10, ALM announced the winners as they gathered to celebrate each other at the Omni Shoreham in Washington, D.C., during the Women, Influence & Power in Law conference (WIPL) taking place Oct 10-12.

You will see in-depth profiles of the winners later this year in the pages of Corporate Counsel. For now, get snapshots of the honorees who participated in our survey to learn their lessons in leadership.

Amy Fliegelman Olli, VMWare

SVP and General Counsel, VMWare, formerly of Avaya

Nominated for: Collaborative Leadership Award (Winner)

Olli has more than 20 years of legal experience, with most of it focused in the enterprise technology sector. She joins VMware from Avaya, where she served as senior vice president and general counsel, leading the Avaya Law and Global Contracting organization. Prior to Avaya, Olli held a similar position at CA Technologies. She spent the formative part of her career at IBM Corporation.

In 2010, Olli was the winner of Burton's “Legends in Law” award and was named by the Diversity Journal as a “Woman Worth Watching” in 2011. She was also a 2014 winner of the “Aiming High” Award from Legal Momentum.

What is the best leadership advice you provided to a member of your legal team in the last year and why do you think it was effective?

Focus on Self Awareness and how you are perceived. Perception is reality and you need to be the one to change if you want to be an effective leader

Looking back, what do you wish you had known when you became a General Counsel?

I did not spend sufficient time understanding the culture of the company and its impact on how you can be effective. Title goes just so far to make a difference you must determine how best to collaborate among your peers and your employees in order to make a difference.

If you moved on from your role tomorrow, what contribution do you most want to be remembered for?

Interesting question as I am going on to a new role in a few weeks as GC of VMware. I want to be remembered as leaving Avaya in a better place than I found it. I want to have made a significant difference in how the legal team can be a real asset and partner in shaping the success of the company.