Vision, purpose, focus. From my experience in heading up a law business, these are essential ingredients for high performance organisations; essential ingredients for high performance teams; and essential ingredients for high performance individuals.
I would like to additionally highlight courage. In all our conversations with general counsel, courage is the golden thread which links each individual team recognised in GC Powerlist: United Kingdom Teams 2022.
On behalf of KPMG Law, I wish to share our congratulations.
From cover to cover, the Powerlist is a ‘who’s who’ of senior in-house lawyers who have demonstrated the vision, purpose and focus to run legal teams that add true commercial value to their businesses. And that value is increasingly recognised at the highest level in business. Many of the GCs listed have already taken that coveted step to occupy a seat at the boardroom table; the rest are well on their way.
Of course, clarity of vision, purpose, and focus – while critical – can only take you so far. It’s the values and behaviours you demonstrate day-to-day which determine the extent to which you succeed – or fail – in achieving your ambitions. And in helping your organisation achieve theirs.
Many of the most successful GCs that we know well through our Legal Reimagined GC Community – a number of whom I’m pleased to see in this year’s Powerlist – are genuine ‘changemakers’. They share a growth mindset, acutely focused on cutting through complexity and challenge to deliver solutions, simply and effectively and in many instances with great courage.
They put the interests of their internal clients – and the business as a whole – front and centre in every decision they make. And they are disciplined in their approach to delivering on the commitments they make, big and small.
Their leadership style is typically one of high support, high challenge. They work collaboratively inside and outside their teams – inside and outside their organisations – to bring out the best in every situation for the good of the business, and the good of the people they work with.
And finally, they understand the value of diversity, in its broadest sense. By that I mean diversity of thought, diversity of experience, diversity of background and diversity of leadership. Importantly, they don’t just understand it, they deliver on it.
In all the conversations I have with general counsel, I find myself nodding in recognition when I hear of the challenges and opportunities they face. I am always interested to hear ‘how’ senior in-house leaders deliver excellence and create a culture where values and behaviours create a very different legal experience for their clients and their people. The next generation are looking at their career in law through a different lens. We have much to learn from them and each other as we shape a profession fit for the future.
I know how much this recognition means to each of the general counsel teams listed in this year’s Powerlist. It’s the definitive line-up of the leading and most forward-thinking in-house lawyers in the market.
Congratulations to all those featured. I look forward to advancing the frontiers of law together.
Nick Roome
Solicitor, Head of KPMG Law in the UK
nick.roome@kpmg.co.uk
KPMG Law
15 Canada Square
London
E14 5GL
To view the profiles for our nominated individuals, please visit:
GC Powerlist United Kingdom 2022