However, getting others to act on your advice requires a range of supplementary skill-sets.
One of these is personal effectiveness, the subject of our third 2024 Legal Leaders webinar with Thomson Reuters.
‘Be the person you would choose to be led by’
Will Morris
'Be not just a trusted adviser but a business partner and key influencer'
Alex Kuczynski
Joining regular chair Antony Inglese and Q&A moderator Paul Bentall for this session were two in-house lawyers with a deep understanding and long-term interest in personal effectiveness.
Will Morris is General Counsel - Corporate at Rolls-Royce plc. Will joined Rolls Royce in 2006 and worked in its Defence Aerospace and Civil Aerospace businesses before taking up his current role in February 2023. Will trained as a solicitor with Eversheds, then made his move to in-house with Muller Dairy (UK) in 2003. (Veteran CLL webinar attendees may remember Will from our October 2021 event Leadership, Net Zero and Lawyers.)
Alex Kuczynski was, until September 2024, General Counsel and Executive Director of Corporate Services at the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). Before joining FRC he spent 20 years with the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, holding senior roles such as Head of Legal, General Counsel and, from 2010 to 2020, Chief and Corporate Affairs Officer.
Will – 'how you do things is more important than what you know'
Acting with honesty and integrity is central to personal effectiveness, says Will. Its your professional duty and means you will be trusted. Putting this duty at the core of your behaviours, you are able to act with the necessary moral courage and fortitude in the times that you are tested. Developing a mindset of self-analysis and self-improvement and being true to your personal values will also help you build and maintain self-assurance.
One way to achieve this is through personal journaling – taking 10 minutes each day to write down your thoughts, frustrations and the things you did well.
Value inputs over outputs
Inputs are what you control. Planning and preparing for meetings, updating your knowledge and skills and maintain good timekeeping are obvious examples. Outputs include other people’s approval, promotions to new roles and occasional bonuses. Don’t obsess over outputs as that only leads to distraction and stress. Instead, focus on inputs by doing your best work every day. That way, the outputs will follow naturally.
Stay curious
The ability to ask searching questions is the making of an effective in-house lawyer. It’s also a great way to make yourself visible, so seek clarity, background and context in every matter you work on. If you struggle to gain access to the areas you need to learn about, ask, “How can I help?” It’s a rarely used disarming question that often breaks down barriers and promotes engagement.
Be adaptable
Effective leaders adapt their behaviour to their audiences. They have the ability to go into great detail but also read the room and simplify and personalise their message to the audience. They know when to switch their focus from the minutiae to the bigger strategic picture.
Read, read and read some more*
To enable you to see the bigger picture learn how to occasionally gain distance from an issue and observe matters more objectively. Its basic advice but reading books broadens the mind, gives you a global perspective and helps you anticipate problems. As Harry Truman once said, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” As a GC once told me ‘In the this volatile world, you need to know what is going on if you want to help anticipate and mitigate problems’.
Find your rhythm
Take control of your schedule. Plan your week and determine when, for example, you’ll hold meetings, check emails and what you want to have achieved by the close of play. You may not always stick to it, but you need to try to return to it as regularly as possible.
On effective leadership
Effective leadership is more about coaching than command and control. Accept that when you lead a professional team, you may not be the best lawyer in the building. Nor is it your job to be. Once you’re appointed to lead a team, it stops being about you. Now, your core role is to help people realise their full potential. Having regular care-centred conversations with your team and showing them the way forward is more productive in leadership than performance reviews and behaviour calibration.
Remember, people gravitate towards the standards you set, not the standards you request.
Remember, people gravitate towards the standards you set, not the standards you request.
Alex – 'think about your learning and development'
Personal effectiveness arises from the optimal balance relationship between you, as the legal adviser, and you, as the trusted business partner. You won’t necessarily have or should expect a decision-making role, however you should be an important influencer in your organisation’s key strategic choices, and guardian of ethics and propriety. This means challenging values or behaviours if required but not assuming the responsibility as the “conscience” of the business or for the business decisions.
Throughout his career, Alex has identified three major factors that play into personal effectiveness and position the in-house lawyer contribution.
Throughout his career, Alex has identified three major factors that play into personal effectiveness and position the in-house lawyer contribution.
Purpose
It’s essential to understand the purpose of the organisation you work for. What does it exist to do? Why does it do it? What achievements signify success. Keeping these questions at the forefront of your mind will give you the starting point for aligning an effective, bespoke legal function to your employer’s specific needs. Testing the business objective may also cause a re-evaluation of the approach
Philosophy
How does the organisation go about its business and discharge its functions and obligations? How does it engage with people internally and externally? A deep understanding of the organisation’s values and how its key people think will help you frame the legal function and support the organisation’s purpose.
Process
The organisation’s processes give you even deeper context. Knowing how the business works, whose advice is sought, where in the decision-making chain that advice comes from - and how the final decisions are made – are invaluable points of reference. They’ll help you engage with external stakeholders and internal clients, including people who have a good understanding (and possible influence over) the legal framework you operate within. Awareness of the operation allows advise to be crafted in a practical and understandable delivery, and facilitate the objective even if the approach is not as the internal client may have anticipated.
Be approachable
Like Will, Alex puts great emphasis on a willingness to be adaptable and curious. He also cites a readiness to engage with anyone in the business, regardless of how junior or senior you may be, as a factor in personal effectiveness. This not only gains you valuable knowledge about processes and challenges in all corners of the business but wins trust and respect too.
Similarly, be approachable and open to feedback. It may sometimes put you on the defensive but constructive feedback is never personal, yet almost always helpful.
It is helpful to build cross organisational relationships whether through instructions or office activities.
The recording can be found here.
The final webinar in the 2024 Legal Leaders series with Thomson Reuters examines The unique role of the in-house lawyer. It’s at 2.00pm on 4 December. See you then.
*Will’s recommended reading:
The Coming Wave (Michael Bhaskar and Mustafa Suleyman)
The Forever War – America’s unending conflict with itself (Nick Bryant)
The final webinar in the 2024 Legal Leaders series with Thomson Reuters examines The unique role of the in-house lawyer. It’s at 2.00pm on 4 December. See you then.
The Coming Wave (Michael Bhaskar and Mustafa Suleyman)
The Forever War – America’s unending conflict with itself (Nick Bryant)
