Louise Pentland, the chief legal officer of San Jose, California-based fintech company PayPal, closed out the first day of Berkeley Law School's Peer 150 General Counsel Institute Thursday with some advice based on what she's learned over her career journey.

“It's hard if people don't tell you what the unwritten rules are to be successful,” Pentland told the audience of mostly in-house lawyers at Berkeley. Here are the steps Pentland outlined:

1. Ace the job you are hired to do.

Pentland said it's important for in-house leaders to be a partner to the business—even if that doesn't come easily. She noted a conversation she had with an in-house lawyer earlier in their career who had not spent much time speaking with company executives, as their desks were on different floors. In-house lawyers, Pentland said, should be regularly sitting and talking with executives, even if that means bringing a laptop up to their floor and working or chatting there.

Often, Pentland said, in-house counsel put themselves ”in a box” that could cut them out of opportunities to build relationships and make change in the company—and they should avoid setting those limitations.

But it's also important for in-house leaders to prove themselves to their team first. Pentland said she did that at one in-house role by simplifying a complex document that made everyone in legal's life easier. “I had to show them what i was made of,” she said.

2. Have a game plan in advance.

Pentland said she's never known about her next opportunity more than six weeks in advance.

“If you have some sort of plan, I think you start to ready yourself for when those opportunities come forward,” she said. Pentland has wanted to be an in-house leader since law school.

That dream became a reality, she said, through networking, mentoring and developing advocates on the executive team. When opportunities came around, those long-term developments gave her an edge over others just starting.

Decision-makers will remember lawyers who “rose to the occasion” and who have done an “amazing job,” she noted.

3. Know what you stand for.

When choosing her most recent role, at PayPal, Pentland said this was one of the most crucial factors. She felt she was personally aligned with the company's mission.

And she's also brought her values into the legal department, including a strong focus on diversity and inclusion. Pentland has pushed for more diversity at outside law firms by rejecting those that don't have women or underrepresented minorities working on their matters.

“They may be the best firm in Silicon Valley or the United States. I will not use them,” she said.

Pentland's department has both a CLO and a GC, Wanji Walcott, a decision Pentland said she made to increase the pipeline of diverse candidates to top legal roles. In her experience, many talented diverse lawyers were cut out of top legal jobs in-house because they had only ever served as a deputy GC.

But she said that deputy GCs often perform more of the day to day legal work than their department's head—and they should get credit for the importance of their role. With the CLO and GC setup, both leaders are able to develop and grow, and the GC gets the credit they deserve and a better shot at future positions.