On 14th November 2022, specialist legal and compliance search consultancy, Laurence Simons, published a new White Paper on the attributes, qualities, and competencies that every General Counsel should possess. This newly published research rebuts assumptions around the attributes of General Counsel and reveals their unique ability to lead with both 'heart' and 'head'. What else does the study tell us about the lawyers who occupy these senior roles? Are there any differences between men and women in the role? And what can early career lawyers aspiring to become General Counsel learn from the research?
Are there any differences between men and women in the role?
Clare Beresford, CEO of Laurence Simons, who commissioned the research, is a prominent voice in the market on the topic of female lawyers in leadership roles. Earlier this month, she spoke at the Legal Leaders Europe Event (hosted by Reuters) on how the profession can continue to break down structural barriers for women lawyers.
“As a vocal advocate of women in senior legal roles and a champion of DE&I, I was intrigued to see what, if any, differences there were between the attributes of men and women holding the role of General Counsel,” says Clare. “A lot has been said and written about on the subject, and I was eager to see what the evidence revealed.”
Although both the male GC respondents and female GC respondents were aligned on almost all of the self-selected most essential competencies for their role, there were two competencies where the respondents differed. These competencies fall under the ‘people-focused’ attributes but have different implications for how these GCs approach their roles.
The male GC respondents selected ‘working together’ as one of the most important competencies to possess for their role. This competency is described as collaborating well with others and demonstrating a commitment to their employer.
The female GC respondents selected ‘coaching and developing’ others as one of the most important competencies to possess for their role. This aligns with research from the Harvard Business Review, which found that female leaders are more likely to coach, mentor, and develop their direct reports than their male counterparts. [Ref: https://hbr.org/2020/04/7-leadership-lessons-men-can-learn-from-women]
“The reality is that the differences between men and women GCs are minimal”, explains Clare. “It’s a misconception that women ought to emulate men to secure the top roles. I’ve long argued that the real problem is not a lack of competent females; it’s the myriad of barriers along a women’s career path that makes it difficult for them to achieve these positions.”
What attributes distinguish General Counsel from Legal Counsel?
Lawyers share some of their personality traits with GCs, both being logical and tough. However, where lawyers are practical, reliable and more competitive, the GCs are demonstrative, more conceptual and take charge.
Legal roles inherently require a heightened sense of vigilance and sensitivity to risk, and so the danger is they may not allow themselves to be their authentic selves at work through taking a more cautious approach.
By being risk averse and more focused on delivery through performance, lawyers may focus too much on their core skills, at times neglecting to exhibit their human skills, which could help them to influence others in a powerful way. Pioneering, inspirational and people-focused competencies and traits are particularly high in the GC sample.
"Legal Counsel are expected to be strategic business partners whilst managing risk - balancing between big picture thinking and down to earth qualities. It requires skill and experience to seamlessly flex between the opposing aspects we see in GC profiles" explains Clare. "Legal Counsel will often have underlying creative and collaborative qualities but tend to favour outcome and down to earth qualities in their everyday approach. To fast track the GC competencies, I would encourage lawyers early in their career to be more authentic at work and exercise their underlying creative thinking and people skills."
Complete the form to download ‘General Counsel Under the Magnifying Glass', here.
Scala supported Laurence Simon's external marketing agency, Aurora Agency.
