Awaken Your Business

Force: Avoid the Dark

Side of Billable Hours

and Become a Business

Jedi  Presented  by  N

icolle  Schippers,  Corporate  Cou

nsel    

   

In Your Company – Are you seen as this?

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Or this?

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The Way of the “Force”  

 

Goals  Based  on  Billable  Hours  

•   More  charged  hours  =  be=er  performance  

•   Work  with  small  group  of  people  or  just  your  client  

•   ConsulDng  with  others  at  a  minimum  

•     (For  the  most  part)  –  you  make  the  ulDmate  decisions  regarding  goals  

 

Goals  Based  on  Corporate  Objec6ves  

•   Efficiency  

•   Make  money,  don’t  spend  it  

•   Consult  with  business  partners  

•   Working  with  variety  of  people/personaliDes    

•   (Many  Dmes)  –  you  do  not  make  the  ulDmate  decision  

So Let’s Make You a Business Jedi

First: “Forget” everything you know

Second:

Redefine “business” Third:

Redefine yourself Fourth:

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

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#1: Don’t Say No – at least not right away!

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ü Take  &me  to  research  or  look  into  the  issue    ü Remember  your  job  –  you  have  to  remember  the  risks  (technology  issues,  social  media  issues,  cyber  security,  risk  analysis)  but  you  also  need  to  help  the  business  with  corporate  goals  –  so  find  a  way  to  say  no  –  without  outright  doing  so    ü Explain,  Educate,  Explain,  and  Educate  some  more.  

Be Flexible - don’t always be seen

as a roadblock

#2: Learn the Business

This  includes  every  part  of  the  business    Go  to  their  department    

Ø   ask  for  training  Ø   ask  to  job  shadow  Ø   have  them  explain  their  goals,  processes,  etc.  Ø   what  help  do  they  need  from  you?  Ø   how  can  you  strengthen  the  relaDonship?    

 Get  away  from  your  desk  –  learn  on  a  conDnual  basis.    The  return  will  be  invaluable      

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 “It  may  sound  obvious,  but  an  important  part  of  an  in-­‐house  a=orney's  job  is  doing  her  homework.  ”    

   AssociaDon  of  Corporate  Counsel        

#3 Think Creatively

Blue  Sky  thinking  

 i.  Help  your  business  be  innovaDve    ii.  Help  your  business  be  compeDDve    iii.  Help  them  move  into  a  new  market,  develop  a  new  product,  client  base,  etc        i.  In  what  ways  should  the  profession  address  the  findings  of  i.                      i.  Be  seen  as  the  person  who  can  help  make  things  happen  ii.  Be  the  person  they  come  to  in  the  beginning  rather  than  a]er  the  fact    iii.  See  the  issue  from  the  business’  viewpoint  iv.  Explain  things  with  their  perspecDve  in  mind    

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 How  can  you  make  things  happen?  

#4 Guess What – You Are Now in Sales      Not  billable  hours  sales  –  but  the  kind  of  sales  that  helps  your  company  grow  and  be  profitable.    You  also  are  expected  to  keep  a  budget  (which  includes  outside  counsel  spend).  

           There  is  a  (someDmes  delicate)  balance          between  the  two  –  don’t  forget  you  have  to          do  your  job.    

     

     

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Your  job  is  to  provide  cost  effec&ve  and  quality  legal  services  and  your    goals  should  reflect  this  

#5 Think Globally

Go  beyond  the  technical    Think  beyond  the  legal  department  and  all  of  the  work  piled  on  your  desk    Think  how  you  can  posiDvely  impact  the  bo=om  line  and  the  company’s  goals    Be  the  one  who  comes  up  with  global  soluDons  to  help  many  departments    Be  a  business  partner        

     

glob·∙al  ˈɡlōbəl/  adjec&ve  • of  or  relaDng  to  the  whole  world;  worldwide.  • relaDng  to  or  embracing  the  whole  of  something,  or  of  a  group  of  things.    synonyms:  comprehensive,  overall,  general,  all-­‐inclusive,  large  scale,  all-­‐encompassing,  universal,  blanket.   10  

#6 Gain Credibility- and keep it!

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ü  ConDnually  do  Dps  1-­‐5    

ü  Go  beyond  the  technical    

ü  Get  feedback  –  do  surveys      

ü  Hold  lunch  and  learns  to  teach  them  about  what  is  going  on  in  the  legal  department  or  with  a  parDcular  subject  ma=er    

ü  Get  in  front  of  the  business  any  opportunity  you  can  get  –  don’t  wait  to  be  asked  .  .  .  Suggest  

Get  feedback  from  others    -­‐  on  how  your  team  is  doing    -­‐  on  how  to  incorporate  their  goals    into  your  own    -­‐  on  how  your  goals  impact              resources    -­‐  on  how  you  and  your  team  are    doing  in  driving  your  goals    

Don’t  be  the  general  counsel  who  fails  to  adequately  

consider  how  Legal’s  objecDves  rely  on  external  stakeholders’  prioriDes  and  resources.  

#7 Legal Mission

Mission  statements  allow  

lawyers  to  be  drawn  more  

deeply  into  the  business  

teams  and  seen  as  valued  

contributors  and  trusted  

advisors  

Mission  statements  

show  that  lawyers  are  

proacDve  business  

members  

Why?    To  stress  the  importance  of  facilitaDng  the  achievement  of  the  client  business  goals  

Progressive  mission  statements  

focus  on  the  business  clients  

1.  Must  be  Ded  to  corporate  mission  

2.  Get  input  from  others  within  and  outside  of  the  legal  department  

3.  Needs  to  be  clear  and  concise  (no  lawyer  speak)  

4.  Must  be  communicated  to  everyone  

5.  Make  sure  it  is  understood  by  everyone  

 

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#8 Listen

Even  if  you  have  a  legal  mission  and  have  educated  yourself  on  the  business’  goals  -­‐  if  you  don’t  listen,  no  one  will  listen  to  you  -­‐   if  you  don’t  listen,  your  goals  will  be  irrelevant  -­‐   if  you  don’t  listen,  you  won’t  get  the    

 resources  to  achieve  your  goals  -­‐ if  you  don’t  listen,  you  won’t  be  seen    

 as  a  business  partner  -­‐if  you  don’t  listen,  the  success  of    

 achieving  those  goals  won’t    be  recognized  

       

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#9 Show Value    Not  only  do  you  have  to  show  your  value  to  the  company;  but  you  need  to  show  the  value  of  your  department  and  your  goals.    Communicate  and  communicate  oMen  

q How  are  you  doing  compared  to  your  goals?  

q Are  you  meeDng  any  of  your  or  the  company’s  metrics?  

q How  are  you  communicaDng?  

q How  o]en  are  you  communicaDng?  

q  Is  the  communicaDon  clear  and  concise  –  no  lawyer  speak?  

q Are  you  showing  how  your  departments  accomplishments    align  with  corporate  objecDves?  

q Are  you  communicaDng  to  the  right  audience?  

   

     

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Hold  recurring  meeDngs  with  business  stakeholders  

#10 Now It’s Time, Jedi: Develop 5-7 Focused goals

 

1)  Now  is  not  the  Dme  to  be  overly  broad  

2)  Always  align  with  corporate  goals  

3)  Be  able  to  explain  how  these  goals  align  and  support  corporate  strategy  

4)  In  your  communicaDons  –  explain  how  individual  projects  support  the  department  goals  

5)  Ensure  your  employees’  personal  objecDves  De  to  the  department  goals  

6)  Make  sure  your  professional  objecDve  Des  to  corporate  goals  

7)  Develop  metrics  for  each  objecDve  –  how  will  you  measure  success?  

May the Force Be With You! 15  

Questions?