‘There are all sorts of platitudes about leadership,’ says Albert Wang, general counsel (GC) for Asia-Pacific at 3M. ‘You hear them all the time: walk the talk, lead from the front, lead with integrity, and be authentic. They’re platitudes, but that doesn’t mean they’re not true. When I think about the leaders that have inspired me, all of those qualities resonate.’
Another platitude GCs slip into when discussing leadership is ‘talking the language of business’. This strikes a chord with the Shanghai-based Wang. ‘We have a very engineering and science-focused culture, and engineers talk in data. We used to see PowerPoint presentations that ran to hundreds of slides with overflow of information. There is now a trend to strip that detail out and simplify it into pictures or ideas or to develop a dialogue rather than a one-way presentation. It’s not about being updated, it’s about identifying problems and working out how the business can solve them. That, in essence, is talking the language of business.’
Seeing some of the brightest engineers grapple with translating technical expertise into commercial advice has also convinced Wang that lawyers are not the only people who struggle to adapt to management roles. However, he says lawyers must make more of an effort to develop wider skills.
‘Good talent can tell whether you’re authentic.’
‘There are all sorts of HR tools to measure leadership and lawyers always tend to score poorly on the non-technical dimensions. We often operate just in our own lane, but our businesses are asking us to bring our whole selves to the problem, even if it’s not a legal problem.’
Another issue Wang believes holds lawyers back from senior roles is their lack of focus on personal development. ‘Lawyers tend to be very work-oriented. If I ask what they are working on in their individual development plans, the answer tends to be framed in terms of work goals, whether becoming a better M&A lawyer or working on a particular type of deal. It’s less common to hear lawyers talking about the type of development that requires introspection or soft skills.’
The situation, however, is changing. According to Wang, there are now a large number of ambitious young lawyers in the region attracted by the opportunity working in-house gives them to display their broader skills. But, as the appeal of a career in-house grows, so too does the pressure on the GC to learn new leadership skills.
‘Attracting and retaining talent is becoming a core skill for GCs. If you want to build a world-class legal department with a global view then you need the best people. Good talent can tell whether you’re authentic about being world class. You can’t attract the right people without being authentic.’