I have been privileged to have held legal leadership positions at famed companies like Microsoft, Chewy and Etihad Airways around the globe. I have also had the opportunity to work at unicorn start-ups like The Binary Holdings, which are focused on hyper pace innovation in the tech space. During this process, I have made many mistakes and I have learned from them to be a more effective general counsel (GC).
While these are general strategies that work in pretty much every market and company, they become more important when you are operating in emerging markets like the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and the Asia-Pacific (APAC), which tend to be less structured from a legal perspective and faster moving compared to developed markets like the United States and Europe.
1. Never be a naysayer and buzz-kill
No matter how smart you are, knowing the dynamics at C-suite is critical. Unless you want to be a back room lawyer brought in to write T&Cs when the product is ready to be launched, watch the positions you take. Embrace the ideas being discussed in C-suite and help shape the ideas, instead of solely focusing on risk. Every truly innovative idea or product is scary at first!
2. Understand the CEO and board priorities
Focus on what is important for the CEO and the company. It could be a fund raise, it could be disrupting an existing market via a new product, it could be reducing time to contract so that you can help with cash flow or M&A to power growth—whatever it is, focus 80% of your energy on that. Leave the remaining 20% for the rest of the job. Be ahead of the curve—anticipate the next two to four moves in every situation.
3. Be a people person
Many GCs just focus on managing up while having a transaction approach towards their team. This is not a good idea. Your team and your peers are your delivery engine and without them trusting and delivering for you, your role will not be successful. Genuinely care about your team and show it with actions and not just talk. Do not think people cannot see through your corporate speak—everybody can. If you are not capable of being a human that can care genuinely about others, then you probably have no business being a leader.
4. Focus on the upside first
Business executives usually dislike lawyers since we focus on the downside—that is our training. Unlearn law school where you read the fact pattern to find potential risks. Focus on the upside first, and try to mitigate the downside as much as possible without destroying the idea. Business executives can seek legal advice from outside counsel with memos that outline all the risks—that is not why they hired you as the GC. Identify the risk, price the risk, calculate the probability of risk materialising, weigh it against the upside and then go all-in fearlessly!
5. Be visible
The C-suite are just like any other group and you must make your presence felt. Build a brand and personality and stay true to it. Connecting with C-suite members, the board, and major investors is more critical than red-lining every little issue in that agreement. As GC, your job is to get the deal done. You did not become GC because you are the best lawyer—you became GC because you are the most effective lawyer.
Shahab Ahmed is general counsel and company secretary at The Binary Holdings. Prior to this, he held legal leadership positions at Microsoft, Chewy and Etihad Airways in the US, MENA and APAC.
