Conclusion
Perhaps the biggest question for GCs who have looked at themselves in the ‘8C’ mirror is: how do I go forward from here? Again, we’ve discussed some of that before. But to put it very simply, our model is driven by three more Cs: change (again), commitment and confidence. A GC who aspires to become a truly strategic business counsel will need to embrace change (both organisational and personal), demonstrate a high level of commitment and, importantly, feel and display confidence in their abilities and achievements. Some of the GCs we’ve spoken to feel that courage is needed as well as confidence; for others, the two are basically the same thing.
Most lawyers find that commitment comes easily to them. To some extent, you’re unlikely to become a lawyer in the first place if you don’t have it. But not as many are truly at home with change or, in some cases, with confidence of the kind commonly found among senior management.
We believe the GC ‘debate’ will become increasingly centred on influence and will pivot on the key topics of values and ethics. But even if we’re wrong about that (and we appreciate that it will apply more to GCs in some companies than others), our conversations with GCs have convinced us of the essential applicability of the ‘8C’ model to all in-house lawyers. Any GC who makes enough progress in those eight key areas – propelled by commitment, confidence and an appetite for change – will be top-table material.
If you would like to discuss any aspect of what we’ve written here, please reach out to us by phone or email. We would be delighted to talk with you.
Methodoloy
We surveyed 75 senior in-house lawyers in Latin America, using an online survey, in the second quarter of 2019. We additionally conducted interviews with a number of other senior in-house lawyers and refined our findings through further discussions with other senior members of the region’s legal community. The respondents to our survey were typically general counsel, heads of legal or legal directors. We have referred to them collectively as GCs in this report. Roughly half head the legal function in their organisation; many others are national or regional heads.
