Expectations - and why they matter
Last week I was lucky enough to attend the Economist Impact General Counsel Summit 2022. I did so partly with my O Shaped Lawyer hat on (an organisation that I chair, and that is working to drive sustained change in the legal sector to make it better on many fronts), and partly with my Sport and Beyond hat on. As well as listening and learning throughout the day, I was there to deliver a short Flash of Insight session, tasked with a 10 minute slot to share insight on what lawyers really want. I’m happy to admit that doing so in 10 minutes was an interesting challenge, although as ever I was able to spend the time distilling down much of the research and insight, and bring my central points (Belonging, Control, Purpose) to life with some stories from world class sport. One particular piece of research that I referred to was carried out at the back end of last year by Flex Legal, in conjunction with O Shaped. It’s worth taking a quick look, whatever industry you are in, as it debunks some of the myths about the new generation coming through, as well as reinforcing some of the key themes around feeling valued, career progression, and the importance of inclusive and collaborative cultures.
https://flex.legal/blog/here-comes-the-next-gen-flex-legals-future-lawyers-report
There was lots to listen to and reflect on throughout the day. One area in particular came out consistently, and it’s one that crops up pretty frequently with the many senior leaders whom I coach, whatever sector they are in. And that is Expectations. And in particular the importance of understanding them, clarifying them, and managing them. So many issues are caused in the workplace by this not being prioritised.
To highlight some insight from the day at the Economist conference.
Story One: a General Counsel from a large global company was asked how their function demonstrates value to the business. In her reply, she began with the starting point for her, which was to make sure that she understood what the business valued. In her case, it was speed. Having understood the business priority, and had it clarified, she was then able to react and respond accordingly. In this instance it meant both managing the business’ expectations in terms of speed (when it comes to legal risk, not everything can happen at breakneck speed, nor should it) and in terms of the legal function’s involvement (by making it clear that the earlier the legal function was involved in conversations, the easier it would be for them to act at speed).
Story Two: a General Counsel from another large global organisation, when asked about the role of the senior leadership within her team stated that it was threefold: to lead your function; lead your department; and lead in the organisation. I loved this because of the clarity it gave to the individuals concerned. Plus of course the effortful elevation of the role to become directly relevant in, and across, the business, rather than just staying in its silo.
Story Three: a general counsel from a UK-based company was asked how they demonstrate and quantify their team’s impact. Measuring impact is of course an issue across industries, and one to which there is never seemingly a straightforward answer. However, this GC’s starting point was: ‘who is the key audience?’ In other words, who is it that I am demonstrating impact to? In this instance, it was the CEO of the business. The GC’s next question was: ‘how does the CEO measure impact? What is it that she values?’ And the answer was ‘data’. Using this insight, the GC decided to measure impact by tracking data – not the legal data, but the business data. As that was what the CEO cared about. And using the business data metrics to demonstrate the impact of the legal function.
Whilst these examples are legal-specific, the issues and principles they raise are common across departments, functions and sectors. As indeed they are across so many issues, whether it’s how you’re performing in your role, how your organisation is performing in implementation of its strategy, or what perceptions others hold.
And to bring this full circle, this was very relevant to my 10 minute slot at the Economist Impact Summit. The potential for disappointing expectations, with a 10 minute slot to answer the question on every law firms’ lips, was huge! So I made time to speak to the Editorial team at the Economist, and gain clarity on their expectations from the slot. I used that to think carefully about what key messages to land, and how. And I made sure to manage the audience’s expectations at the beginning of the session.
For more on this or any aspect of leadership, with a healthy dose of mindset, sport, and I hope usefulness thrown in, do feel free to browse through all the articles in the Huddle, or get in touch with me directly on catherine@sportandbeyond.co.uk.