What are the ideas and skills that lawyers might need to develop today to be prepared for tomorrow? That was the question that stimulated me as I started writing my first book, focused on key business ideas and how these have influenced in-house teams.

I focused on business concepts that are broad and speak as much to humanity as to success in the business or legal worlds. It seems to me that the secret to our success as professionals in this world of increased technology and data will be tapping into those skills that make us uniquely human. It's also true that the most successful general counsel I know have great human skills.

The seven concepts I consider are: purpose; culture; leadership; talent: creativity; collaboration; and innovation. It was important to me that these were not just ideas. I started out teaching drama, where turning an idea into action is basically the point of everything! The voices of the in-house lawyers quoted in the book and the case studies on legal departments are all designed to show how these ideas could take life within an in-house team.