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ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT STEPS
general counsel can take to become a
better business partner to their company’s executives is to volunteer to
lead projects that are not related to the
legal department, according to a paper
recently published by SimpleLegal.
The white paper, “ 7 Strategies
for GCs: How to Become a Strategic
Business Partner,” was co-authored by
SimpleLegal CEO Nathan Wenzel,
and Scale Venture Partners general
counsel Stephan Eberle.
The steps outlined in the paper are
being an information sponge; plug
into the operations functions throughout the organization; volunteer to lead
projects unrelated to legal; eliminate
“no” from your vocabulary; focus on
simplicity and scalability; plan long
term for your legal department/
function; and asking for help, feedback and mentoring.
Wenzel says the most important
steps he and Eberle outlined for gen-
eral counsel are to plug into different
parts of the business and to volunteer
to lead projects outside of legal. He
says it’s important that general counsel
stop looking at the legal department
as the place where business initiatives
happen.
“The legal department’s job is
to protect and grow the company,”
Wenzel says. “You have to plug into
other areas. The easiest place to start
is sales.”
General counsel can learn exactly
what is driving a company through its
sales function and can help make con-
tracting more efficient.
“Take on one small project and
identify how it can be made better,”
Wenzel says. “You have to sell yourself
and sell your function.”
Another area lawyers can prove
effective in leading is in the mergers
and acquisitions process before it gets
to the due diligence phase. Lawyers, he
says, can be helpful in finding strategic
assets for the company.
“Several of our customers have
gone on to another role in the C-suite,”
Wenzel says.
In addition to plugging into other
business functions and taking on projects outside of legal, it is important for
general counsel to show their data, he
adds.
“Every strategic leader has an orga-
nizational system,” Wenzel says. “Have
data just like every other department
head and be able to articulate it to the
C-suite.”
The paper, Wenzel says, is intended
for general counsel and leading in-
house lawyers who want to move
beyond the legal department one day
and into another role in the C-suite.
Many general counsel in 2019 were
promoted to interim or permanent
roles in the C-suite. —DAN CLARK
TAKE CHARGE BEYOND THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT
