Head of Legal at Pi Securities in Thailand, Suthatip shares her reflections from our first APAC event on 24th April, noting the importance of cultivating a foundation of resilience for growth and sustainable performance, and highlighting the need to hold space between stimulus and response.

Filippo, Head of Legal for EMEA at Ericsson, shares his key takeaways from the “Leading Through Uncertainty” webinar designed to support senior legal leaders navigating the ongoing Middle East conflict, including the importance of recognising the impact on the people you lead.

Reflecting on last week’s first event of 2026, “Brain Health for Legal Leaders” Senior legal counsel at Global in London, Moushumi, shares her impressions on the importance of understanding our brains neurochemistry and relation to stress and behavioural patterns in a busy legal life.

This conversation offers a deeper look at the evolution of the General Counsel Wellbeing Network, from its early foundations through to the current work across regions. It explores the thinking behind GCWN’s approach to leadership, performance, and wellbeing, and how the network is supporting senior in-house counsel in navigating increasingly complex and uncertain environments. With thanks to Charlene Gisele for the invitation.

As we prepare for our first APAC workshop in Bangkok, we spoke with Santipap Charasphaew, Head of Legal at Bitazza, to get a local perspective on the evolving in-house landscape in Thailand. Santipap is also a committee member of the Thai Corporate Counsel Association and will be joining us at Agoda on 24 April, alongside a group of senior in-house leaders from across the city. The conversation provides a useful window into the regional context as we begin to establish the GCWN community in Asia.

“We’re delighted to be shortlisted. This recognition reflects the openness and trust of the GC community, and the willingness of senior legal leaders to engage with wellbeing as a core element of leadership and performance.”

You need to be able to love, or at least get satisfaction from, the fact that you never know what you might need to help your organisation deal with next. That’s the fun of it…the most challenging aspect is how you can still peer round corners and move forward the things that are important but not urgent, while dealing effectively with the immediate important and urgent items.

The hybrid nature of law in the Middle East is unique. One morning you’re dealing with a civil law concept in Cairo, in the afternoon it’s a DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre) common law dispute in Dubai, and by evening you’re navigating the rapid regulatory evolution of Vision 2030 in Saudi. Culturally, business here is still done over coffee and trust. If you can’t navigate the Majlis (translated as ‘sitting place’ to connect and discuss) as well as you navigate a Master Service Agreement, you’re only doing half the job.

While leadership development has traditionally focused on sharpening the mind, far less attention has been paid to the heart, despite it being both the engine room of human performance and the seat of our capacity for connection, compassion, and courage. For senior in-house leaders operating under sustained pressure, the heart carries a dual burden: regulating physical stress while simultaneously holding the emotional weight of responsibility, uncertainty, and constant decision-making. This paper explores the heart from both a physiological and human perspective, drawing on science, leadership practice, and lived experience to make a simple case: how we lead is inseparable from how our heart is functioning.

Dr. MOGY, General Counsel at Siemens Energy in the Middle East shares his reflections and personal changes from the Resilience & Recharging workshop in Dubai on 13th January which formally launched our new Middle East chapter.

I used to lead the “textbook” way…the polished corporate version of myself who thought every answer had to be airtight and every email had to sound like it was blessed by a panel of retired judges. Life humbled me. Hard. Now I lead with a mix of precision and humanity. I don’t pretend complexity doesn’t exist. I don’t pretend to be invincible. I don’t pretend every deadline is reasonable just because it’s written in a slide deck. My team sees a leader who sets boundaries, names reality, and expects others to operate like adults. The shift is simple: I stopped performing leadership and started practicing it.

In the first episode of GCWN Studio, “On Sustainable Performance and the Changing Culture of Law”, Steven MacGregor sits down with Andrew Masraf, Global Senior Partner at Pinsent Masons, for a candid and wide-ranging discussion on the future of legal leadership. This conversation explores what sustainable performance looks like in modern law—from culture change and the billable hour, through to wellbeing, human connection, vulnerability, and the evolving value of legal expertise in an AI-accelerated profession.

Sarah Gray, a Strategic Group GC & Company Secretary, most recently at Post Office Ltd shares her principal takeaways from the Hacking Habits workshop on 6th November around system design and her own recent changes around nightly gratitude.

When you go in-house you become part of a multi disciplinary team—all charged with running a business—so your role is not to explain the ‘why not’, it’s coming up with the what, the how, the options, the risk assessment or trade-offs, and then—and this is critical—communicating clearly and concisely. I always keep in mind the brilliant quote, “I would have written a shorter letter, but did not have the time”.

The clocks have changed, and light is at a premium. Global Director of Legal at Ricardo, Kate Tyers, reflects on some of her main circadian rhythm and sleep takeaways from our Summer sessions; 'A Day in the Life' workshop at Pinsents London on June 9th, which was followed by our dedicated sleep webinar on June 27th, 'Becoming a World-Class Sleeper.'

Seasoned GC Kelly Young shares her big takeaway from the 7th October London workshop at Pinsent Masons, Building Cultures of Wellbeing: the power of iteration in leadership and her own approach of adopting a prototyping mindset with her teams.

In the first of a new "View from the Room" series, Ian Ilersic, General Counsel and Company Secretary at ThinCats, shares one big idea from the 7th October workshop on Building Cultures of Wellbeing: the importance of intellectual humility which helps build the foundations for psychological safety.

We’re delighted to announce that the General Counsel Wellbeing Network is launching a new chapter in the Middle East, in partnership with Pinsent Masons. “As a former GC, I know first-hand how valuable it is to have a trusted space to share, learn, and recharge. I only wish such a network had been available to me in my previous in-house role, which is why we’re so pleased to support GCWN in the Middle East,” said Marie Chowdhry, Dubai-based Partner at the Firm.

General Counsel and Chief Legal Officers today face relentless pressure. It can feel easier to borrow the language of others—or even lose your voice altogether, retreating inward when the pressure mounts. Yet clarity, connection, and resilience in leadership begin with that voice. The “vowels of leadership” offer a practical framework to rediscover it: five mindsets that help legal leaders move beyond survival mode, find the confidence to lead, and the openness to draw strength from their teams.

I believe it is so important to build strong and trusting relationships with business colleagues so that we are working together and the legal team is not siloed from the rest of the business. I am so proud when a team member is recognised by the business for their part in problem-solving an issue or getting through a tough project as part of a wider team. Less about business partnering and more about being part of the business!