Building an Outstanding Legal Team

Book excerpt: In this practical "how to" guide, Bjarne P Tellmann, General Counsel draws upon more than 20 years of leading top legal organisations to provide a structured plan for upgrading your legal team in an age of disruption.The challenge: In an era of exponential change, the role of the general counsel (GC) has become one of the most complex, intense and challenging in the corporate world. GCs, must lead, unify and inspire diverse groups of people across the globe with subtlety and diplomacy. The stakes have never been higher and the consequences of getting it wrong can be existential. GCs must react to these challenges with ever-fewer resources and at a time when the legal profession itself is undergoing disruption.The response: To succeed in this "new normal", GCs must become their own chief executives. They must lead, communicate, inspire, build cultures, manage talent, formulate and execute strategies, ensure efficacy, anticipate and manage risk and manage quality control - all in addition to being top-notch lawyers. This book gives GCs the battle plan they need to get there in three parts.