Finding your way to leadership
GC: Lawyers get very focused on their professional qualifications, but as they rise through the ranks – particularly to the general counsel position – their role becomes increasingly management focused. A common concern we hear is that they may feel ill-equipped to deal with this shift. Conversely, there can also be a desire not to let go of being a lawyer. With regards to your work in this area, what practical measures would you suggest to help balance these conflicting desires?
Herminia Ibarra (HI): A good place to start is the fact that the requirements for people aspiring to join the c-suite have changed a lot over the last ten years, with professional management and business qualifications becoming a smaller and smaller portion of it. What really matters now is having broader business acumen as well as possessing the requisite soft skills – essentially being able to speak about what is happening between your discipline and others. Recent research by Boris Groysberg with the head hunter, Heidrick & Struggles, shows the requirement for different c-suite roles is much more similar than you might think. Today’s general counsel may have many more in common with the CMO, CFO or even the CEO than with the legal track. This becomes increasingly salient as organisations become more collaborative with regards to putting together strategies and plans from different perspectives. The actual need for this has become increasingly clear.
