Page 31 - CCCA 250375 Magazine_Summer 2016

{ Feature }

“The number one lesson is to think broadly moVing in
about my company and shareholder val- Once you’ve made your move to senior management, change
ue,” says Marsh. “You have to look at can come very quickly. Frédéric Pérodeau found his transition
risk and not just legal issues but business to be not so simple. After 12 years of private practice in litiga-
risk. This defnitely rang true. We need to tion, Pérodeau began working as Senior Director of Investiga-
think about issues in terms of legal and tions at the Autorité des marchés fnanciers.
business strategy. This really helped to further my career.” “You have to accept that you’re not an expert in everything
and that other people do things differently. You have to change
your mindset,” says Pérodeau. “For the transition, you need to
The program paid off for Marsh. She was promoted to
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary in November 2015, know yourself well. You need to build on your strengths, know
shortly after graduating. your weaknesses and fnd your own leadership style. You can’t
“The other thing I learned was managing a legal depart- build on someone else. You need to be more and more involved
ment,” says Marsh. “I learned how to manage a team, and col- on the business side, and master other skills. Know risk man-
laborate with a team and a board. It’s a very new and real expe- agement, public relations, fnance, etc. You need to have a holis-
rience. This program really helped with that transition.” tic view of your organization and industry.”
Dave Suchon, one of Marsh’s classmates, also experienced Moving into leadership roles requires more than legal ex-
a positive effect in his career. Suchon was promoted to Novo pertise. Lawyers need to learn about their management style.
Nordisk’s executive team as Director, Legal, Business Ethics and Pérodeau went from managing a small legal team to manag-
Quality, in October 2015. He says his education helped him to ing 85 team members, including forensic accountants, fnancial
contribute more to senior-level decisions. market specialists, lawyers, computer experts, criminologists,
“We learned about organizational dynamics and some of technicians and support staff.
the formal theory behind organizations,” says Suchon. “That “That was a challenge, managing much larger teams, because
was very important. Last week as part of the executive team, we you manage people with different backgrounds, skills and ex-
began our annual organizational review, and I was in a better pertise. Needs, concerns and expectations also are different. It’s
place to understand and add value to the conversation. I’m also a big challenge. It’s not enough to be a good lawyer to make the
better positioned to conceptualize the different approaches our transition successful. There’s a science to managing people, and
competitors are taking.” it is necessary for you to know how to empower people and how
One of the major skills that lawyers need to learn is fnan- to make their work meaningful. It takes a lot of time, energy
cials. Law school education typically doesn’t cover accounting and effort, but it gives you confdence. I have the great privilege
and fnance, and can make the transition into business manage- of working with highly skilled, talented and dedicated people.”
ment diffcult. Taking the leap into the C-suite can be a bit frightening, but
“The module in breaking down fnancial statements was the transition can be a rewarding experience. As the business
very useful for someone like me with little formal training in environment changes and legal departments become leaner, the
this area,” says Suchon. “It was great to go into detail and learn executive role may be more enticing for lawyers. ❚
what to look for. This gave me more confdence in the board-
room and credibility, to be able to speak more fuently about “If you would like to have manage-
the fnancial aspects of the business. Getting an overview of the ment responsibility, start working on
basics of business tailored to the in-house lawyer really acceler- that early on,” says PéroDeau.
ates the learning process.” “You never know when opportuni-
ties will happen. Our business skills as
lawyers are a work in progress. Start
developing them early.” ❚

Julie Sobowale is a writer and journalist based in Halifax.

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