In-House Careers: Know Your Worth

Part of driving in-house value recognition is being cognizant of your own value and making sure that your business appreciates the same. 

Far too many in-house lawyers fail to recognize their true worth within their organization, industry and across the global workplace. This can introduce a tendency to just “settle” with the status quo. 

Here are 12 things that you need to know about the in-house lawyer:

• Smart: in-house lawyers are usually the smartest people in the room. Fact! 
• Analytical: we can analyse pretty much everything
• Learners: lifelong
• Management of everything: files, transactions, people, problems, admin, policies, etc
• Risk: a nose for it 
• Influence: we exert it all day
• Sales: convincing others is “sales”
• Aware: we read docs, rooms and people in seconds
• Communications: high distinction (mostly)
• Adaptability: we prevail despite little notice, under-resourcing, poor instructions, etc.
• Ethics: as a profession –a strong moral compass
• Work Ethic: strong to unbreakable

So, tell me what role in the business world does not value these attributes?

Any new skill we need – most of the time we can get it. 

As long we don’t propagate risk-based paralysis – the in-house lawyer can effectively move into any type of business/commercial position that they fancy. 

So, stand tall – be confident about your worth – move to where it is greatly valued. And this means always asking – what else is out there – because there is not much that you cannot do.

Push the limits as to what you can achieve in-house as it is an awesome place to work. But always be aware that our value can be expressed far beyond the doors of the legal department. 

If you want more in-house legal team performance and career insights – please do join the GLS Legal Operations Community for free at: JOIN THE COMMUNITY   

READY TO TRANSFORM YOUR LEGAL TEAM?

Please check out the GLS solutions and know-how resources listed on the right side of this page – they might assist your legal team with the issues explored in this Blog. 

Of course, if you would like discuss your transformation needs – please book a 30 minute FREE CONSULT WITH GLS 

In the interim, here are 7 resources and tools that may assist you as you transform the performance capabilities of your legal team:

1. GLS's Ultimate Guide to Legal Operations: download this HERE, and read it thoroughly and regularly. It is a wonderful transformation companion

2. GLS Transformation Boot Camp: for our free and hugely successful, 10 week long, email-based boot camp on how to effectively transform your legal team you can SIGN UP HERE

3. GLS Knowledge Centre: click HERE to access lots of informative and instructive white papers, blogs and training resources etc. - all focused on helping to improve your legal team's performance

4. GLS Legal Operations Community: join the GLS Legal Operations Community and collaborate with other in-house leaders as they seek to tackle many of the same performance issues that you face, click here to JOIN NOW

5. Visit GLS Connect: visit the GLS CONNECT PAGE and select the information you would like to receive from the GLS Legal Operations Community

6. GLS Legal Team Transformation Plans: mitigate the risks of transformation failure by taking a GLS TRANSFORMATION SUPPORT PLAN 

7. Register: GLS Legal Operations Centre: REGISTER HERE to access the GLS Legal Operations Centre for free and to receive more than US$20,000 worth of legal team performance resources

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