The GC challenge – ‘your mission, should you choose to accept it...’
The iconic challenge from the Mission: Impossible movies may not appear in most General Counsel role profiles, but perhaps it should… Mission: Impossible challenges were always high stakes, high risk, unpredictable and fast moving. And the life of a GC can be closer to that than we might like to admit.
What does a GC actually do? And does the answer even begin to do justice to the challenges and pressures the GC carries?
Most senior corporate titles are descriptive – the Chief Executive runs the company, the Chair runs the board, the CFO is in charge of finance, and so on. But the General Counsel?
The Oxford Dictionary defines the GC as ‘the main lawyer who gives advice to a company’ – but it might be said that is far too simplistic. While some other C-suite roles can be narrowly technical, the GC’s role is not only the specialist legal one – critical though that is – but encompasses an enormous range of other demands.
The GC needs a command of detail, at the same time as a breadth of strategic vision. Often from a specialist legal background, the GC also needs to learn the full spectrum of management and executive skills. They need to understand their business and their sector, to be able to ‘horizon gaze’ to understand the impact of future political, legislative, and economic developments. And, of course, the GC must in turn be able to be a diplomat, a negotiator, a strategist, an influencer - and (crucially) a leader.
Traditionally seen as the ‘conscience of the company,’ they play a key role in the organisation’s ‘tone from the top’ – not just in leading their teams, but in how their behaviours influence the organisation as a whole. The GC may also assume responsibility for a range of other corporate specialisms, from governance to risk, compliance to corporate affairs, with huge implications for the reputation and conduct of the group.
There are also important regulatory duties. The Solicitors Regulation Authority issues extensive guidance on working in-house – and makes it clear that it expects the organisation’s senior-most solicitor to account to it for regulatory concerns within the organisation’s legal team and legal work. Professional responsibilities are paramount.
Amongst all this, there is the need to ensure the organisation’s legal needs are met – balancing a range of internal and external legal resources, technology, and human capital. The GC must deal not just with day-to-day business requirements across the range of specialisms and geographies, but the whole raft of novel issues arising at short notice. Some may be expected, or the result of planned strategic steps; others the result of predictable (if unwelcome) risks, still others the outcome of ‘unknown unknowns’ – the midnight phone call which may threaten the very foundations of the organisation.
The challenges and pressures the GC carries really should not be underestimated. Most legal teams – even ones which appear sizeable – are very, very thinly resourced. Their budgets are under the same financial pressures as every other corporate function – but are highly likely to have to accommodate unexpected and unplanned demands. And the role can be a very lonely one – the Board and fellow C-Suite executives may have a limited insight into the challenges and the professional legal obligations of the GC, and that can sometimes lead to misunderstanding, disagreement and even conflict.
So, is the GC role Mission: Impossible? That may be too blunt an assessment, but the nuanced elements that make up the role are worth considering in more detail. For now, though, we should salute those who are willing to accept the challenge, and do more to recognise the professionalism, dedication, resourcefulness, and determination that it demands.
Richard Tapp