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.

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.

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!

In a crisis, your demeanour sets the tone. The business does not want to see its GC flustered or reactive. Nor do third parties who you want to instil confidence in (lenders, regulators, M&A counterparties). I learnt this during Thomas Cook’s financial collapse. When the worst happens—and it did—it puts everything into perspective. You survive, and you grow, and staying calm makes everything easier to manage.