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CCCA_V3No3_Women-FIN.qxd:CCCA_V1No1_DriversSeat-FIN.qxd 9/16/09 9:52 PM Page 23 the world and learn more about it,’” she says. Cover “So that’s what I did, and it turned out to be a fantastic decision because I was at Rogers for 10 years, and they work at warp speed there. … It really was the building block for the stage I’m at now,which is working at a federally regulated institution in another dynamic head office in an advisory role. So I’ve been really lucky that I’ve had these different stages, but each had built one on the other. Luck,of course,plays only a small role in success.When prodded about how she had capitalized on her opportunities,Warren is quick to answer:“I engaged enthusiastical- ly and wholeheartedly, as I do now, in the substance of the work. I’m committed, focused on the work,not too distracted by other aspects of the firm’s life [and] get the most out of my training.And I’ve worked with some really outstanding lawyers, and they were very influential.” Alexander’s career at Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP was flourishing when she was approached by Scotiabank about her current job. She wasn’t looking, but says she paid the bank a visit out of respect for CEO Peter Godsoe and president RichardWaugh. Change is good, Godsoe told her, especially when you’ve been in a position for a long time. “And he challenged me: He said you can do this job, and you can step out of your comfort zone and move into some new business and create a separate career for your- self. Now, it took him about six months to convince me that he was right, but that is really the reason I moved — it wasn’t because I was unhappy; it was the challenge.” Alexander says she hesitated because she didn’t know the players and knew little about the retail banking business. But she decided to rely on her instincts:“I decided if my instincts kept telling me to change and move over a reasonable period of time,then I was probably making the right judgment call.” Bringing value Once immersed in their new roles,both women focused on learning the business and evaluating how they could be most effective in their new environment.Then, they built on it. Warren recalls being unsure of her new role when she joined Rogers. It took a deal or two, she says, to realize that she was on a different, but complementary path to the external lawyers working with the company. “When you’re in a senior or any-level role in-house,you are playing a unique,inte- grated role,”she says.“Your role is to take the backdrop against which you’re doing any type of transaction,product launch or whatever it is,and you should carry a list in your “Maybe I was head of the relevant contractual framework that your business is subject to — the rel- born in the right evant regulatory matrix,operational imperative,the strategic imperative — and all that should be integrated into the technical legal exercise in which you’re engaged. generation or had “And as I thought that through,I realized I was carrying that list and agenda forward and, frankly, was the only one on the deal who was uniquely suited to that. I got used good luck, but I’ve to playing that role and integrating issues, managing those multiple agendas and work- had the luxury of ing in a partnership with my external lawyers. I finally figured that out.” That became an important lesson forWarren when she was working on the transac- being myself all tion team during a bid for a company. She identified several key task and operational the way through.” issues that became significant in the bid structuring – and it led to a promotion. “I remember my boss saying to me at the time:‘You know, I don’t think anyone Jennifer Warren else could have quite seen the intersection of those issues and if you hadn’t been here, we wouldn’t have picked those up, so kudos to you.’” AUTOMNE 2009 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association 23
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