I think as lawyers we have a lot of self-limiting beliefs about what makes a lawyer effective. These beliefs can work against and limit our ability to do our job well, and so we have to learn to shed them as we develop.
For example, we might think personal effectiveness means displaying how extensive and well-developed our knowledge of the law is to non-lawyers. Unfortunately, this can come across as being remote, even rude if it means we take up most of the time on a call. When law firm partners do this in front of my non-legal colleagues, it’s a major turn-off.
Or, we might think that being personally effective means taking credit for things when we do them well, even though that’s just our job. Worse, we might think we need to speak or dress in a certain way, to convey an image of “power” or “gravitas”, but we end up just looking a bit full of ourselves.
All of these things are versions of the same mistake – thinking the world revolves around ourselves and not being able to step out of a context and see what’s important to others. In other words, ego!
If you try and get beyond ego and instead try and be helpful to those around you, and behave like a decent human being, it’s easier for people to work with you and to listen to you. If you have something useful to contribute, and give sensible advice, you are likely to get invited to meetings before major decisions are made.
Once you have secured a seat at the table, don’t limit yourself to legal matters. You are as qualified as anyone to understand what the strategy of the organisation is, and to contribute your views on how the matter under discussion either promotes that strategy or doesn’t.
Securing a seat at the table is one thing. Making it count is another. Especially in legal and governance roles, where power is often adjacent rather than direct, the question becomes - how do we influence outcomes, not just observe them?
I've written about how to build visibility, shape informal networks, and enable strategy from a place of trust and relevance - even when the org chart doesn’t appear to work in your favour.
A powerful way to shift things is through mindset. Authority may be granted, but influence is built. This means thinking beyond job descriptions towards mapping the informal networks that shape decision-making and narratives in your organisation. Whose endorsement carries weight? This may differ in practice to the organisational role chart. Quiet influencers are rarely defined by titles alone.
Understanding your network is only half the equation - the rest is what you choose to do with it. Once you know where influence rests, focus on contribution. Early wins are valuable, but not all wins matter to your stakeholders equally. Prioritise outcomes that solve cross-cutting problems, anticipate stakeholder concerns, or unblock friction elsewhere in the business. Visibility of relevant wins builds trust faster than any elevator pitch.
Credibility, once built, must be actively maintained. Legal leaders are often trained to actively listen and speak last. However, sometimes, strategic visibility means sharing progress, insight, or value in real time. Rather than chasing attention, this means making your impact legible to those around you. Whether in a quarterly forum, or through something as simple as a coffee chat with a key stakeholder. Influence grows when others connect your work to their own success.
And when reporting lines blur, leadership rests less on hierarchy and more on impact. The ability to simplify complexity, find points of consensus, and engage with empathy is often the clearest signal of seniority - even in the absence of formal power.
In roles where visibility isn't handed to you, your role must be shaped by you and acted on with intent - moving away from politics, and towards leading by example.
Being proactive is what’s crucial here in my view/past experience. In particular, just because a reporting line/organisation hierarchy may not allow for influence or visibility in a formal setting, there should hopefully be nothing to stop you from creating that influence and visibility yourself, outside of the formal structures.
In practice, this means the likes of:
- Being approachable to/directly approaching those “at the table”, and demonstrating your value, skills and experiences if the opportunity arises. Sometimes, it can be as simple as a “I saw this news story and thought of you/thought it would be worth sharing with your team” message.
- Exposing your team’s achievements and capabilities across the wider-business – for example, through a regular newsletter, or on the intranet.
- Seeking development opportunities (e.g. coaching/mentoring) from those outside of your line-of-command. Not only does this make you more visible/influential across external departments, but it also gives you the chance to grow personally and professionally – particularly if the coach/mentor is from a less familiar and non-legal/commercial setting, compared to your immediate lawyer colleagues.
- Taking part in extra-curricular activities. This could be internal efforts (e.g. staff networks and employee engagement initiatives), and external ones (e.g. highlighting successes on LinkedIn, or collaborating with networks and organisations like the Centre for Legal Leadership).
Gethin Bennett - Assistant Legal Counsel, The Royal Mint
Few reporting structures consistently and reliably support people to gain merited influence or visibility - so you have to be personally effective to overcome this.
The key to having a seat at any table is that the others recognising that they need and want you to be there. That happens when you:
- are a good empathetic co-worker who understands their roles and needs;
- an effective contributor who offers clear, concise, relevant input that helps progress discussions without creating unnecessary tension, competition, or confusion;
- make things easier and better by acting as an enabler of solutions without becoming a dumping ground for others’ problems;
- serve as a lubricant for relationships without becoming a gossip or a "knowledge is power" broker);
- act as a connector by linking people and ideas across the silos to create value;
- become a catalyst when needed to help energise ideas and people; and
- function as a problem solver by helping others find their own solutions without overstepping your role.
These are characteristics of personal effectiveness - and you secure and sustain a seat at the table through being personally effective, rather than because you have balanced personal effectiveness off against other things.
As a lawyer you need to retain your independence if you are to be effective and that may mean having a seat at the table can be challenging.
Try and ensure you have a regular report as that allows you to have some visibility and influence.
Ian White - In-house legal consultant