Why Today’s General Counsel Cares about Culture and Creativity

For a large part of my career, I partnered with General Counsels to more effectively manage their law departments.  Many were eager to disrupt the status quo and experiment with innovative solutions, whereas others resisted new models. What I discovered is the future-focused GC prioritizes culture and creativity for a few key reasons:

1.     Strong, healthy cultures reduce company risk and create a line of defense beyond the law department. When employees feel valued, invested in and connected to the organization’s purpose,  doing the right thing becomes part of the company fabric. The GC can play a key role in fostering relationships at all levels of the organization. In partnership with the Chief People Officer, they’re well positioned to champion programs that develop culture and company values, as well as ethical leadership mindsets and behaviors.

2.     Creativity is necessary for today’s transactional work. Despite what may appear as a rules-based profession filled with left-brain linear thinkers, I’ve observed the most successful law department leaders embrace creative business mindsets. Creative minds reassemble patterns and find novel approaches to problems. These lawyers dare to ask: How can we approach this issue in a new way? How might we find common ground in this negotiation? How can I help the business rethink ways to explore and maximize value in this transaction? Bringing curiosity and a thirst for uncovering new solutions builds business value, which is demanded of GCs today.

3.     A focus on creativity with discipline drives ethical and innovative business behaviors. Working with companies to drive more innovation, I find there’s often confusion about what this looks like in practice. Building creative mindsets doesn’t mean lack of structure; if anything, it requires even more discipline and intention. Breaking the mold of what’s been done before also doesn’t imply being unethical. When creativity is encouraged and modeled by the GC’s office, the business can seize new opportunities while exercising sound judgment. An inclusive, engaged and collaborative workforce that chooses to do the right thing naturally develops better products and services. That’s good for everyone.  

I believe we’re now in a new chapter of our workforce history, one with a greater focus on employee well-being, agency and equity. It’s one that prioritizes not only innovation, but also integrity and inclusion. The GC plays a meaningful role in this evolution to support a culture of high ethics, organizational purpose and yes, creativity.