A general counsel has to be “more than just a lawyer” these days, a notion that gets quantified by executive recruitment company Korn Ferry in a recent report. “To be effective means being someone who is not only a good attorney, but also someone who has an appropriate influence on the overall activities of the business—someone whose advice is sought out and heeded,” wrote Brian Woram, executive vice president and GC at KB Home.
Here are some of the study’s takeaways on how to stand out in-house:
- Engage in Broader Thinking: A GC’s job is not only to deal with the company’s immediate legal concerns, but also to think strategically about the long-term impact of transactions, litigation or other corporate matters. “If they display broader thinking, general counsel can dispel the perception that having a law degree means they are only interested in legal issues,” note the report’s authors.
- Seek Out Career Development: “In-house lawyers must be intentional about their own career development,” says Korn Ferry. It advises in-house counsel to seek out opportunities to learn more about the company’s business and the broader industry.
- Practice Agility: It’s important to learn from a variety of experiences, not just take on the work that is comfortable or that you’re good at. “This requires learning agility … the willingness and ability to learn from experience and subsequently apply that learning to perform successfully under new or first-time conditions,” the report says, adding that GCs with agile approaches can amplify their successes under difficult situations.
