When to speak up

Standing up for other people, and your integrity, are both the hardest and easiest things for me.  It’s easy because I feel I have no choice.  It’s also hard, though, because my personality type is subtle as a brick…so I feel compelled to jump onto a rooftop and scream that something is going horribly wrong, and everyone needs to listen.  I know you may find this a great shock, dear reader, but that isn’t always the most effective way.  Having an impact in a difficult situation is incredibly challenging, and I’ve seen my fair share of them.  Probably the hardest one to date was when I had to whistleblow to the Board about a CEO.  Not fun at all.

Over the last few weeks, one of those situations has been unfolding.

My team works right next to our Communications and Government team – a group of around 12 people.  Soon after I joined the Company, the Head of the Comms and Govt team arrived too – we were new kids at the same time.  I was really looking forward to him joining, because I always had a wonderful relationship with the incredibly talented Comms and Govt teams in my Old Job, and I figured there were plenty of opportunities for us to work together to really improve some of the way the Company managed its stakeholders.

Boy, was I wrong.  Within 5 minutes of meeting him, my “arsehole” radar shot straight up, especially when he announced he hated a friend of mine.  Hmmm.  He reinforced this when he passed some of my work off as his own in a meeting with the CEO – right in front of me!  Another hmmm.  With my bubbly personality, I couldn’t let that slide, and I confronted him, and asked if he always took credit for the work of others.  Silence.

Since then, we’ve had a pretty frosty relationship.  The big difference is that I am publicly supportive of his role, and keep telling people in the business that they need to engage him on comms issues.  Meanwhile, he is busy building his empire, and he keeps telling his team not to involve me in their initiatives (they have ignored him).

I stood by and watched as he quickly alienated people in his team.  Quite early on, he lost a talented comms person, who loudly proclaimed that they were leaving because of him.  Since then, 8 of his staff have turned over (in just 8 months).  A particular member of his team, Olive, is pretty vocal.  She’s famous for being passionate, and often not letting an issue go when she needs to.  However, she’s smart, diligent, and she’s been with the Company for nearly 11 years.  She’s a good soul.

Olive and the Arsehole has troubles from day 1.  She had been tossing up whether to tell the CEO or one of his Direct Reports about the issues, and ended up meeting with the head HR dude to take him through all the dramas.  Two weeks ago, the Arsehole ”restructured” her out of a job.  Now, I don’t think it was a real redundancy – it was him getting rid of someone who stood up to him.  Being Olive, she stood up for herself.  I was the first person she came to. 

As General Counsel, these situations can be sticky.  However, I knew that I wouldn’t be advising the Company on the legal issues arising from her redundancy (I was conflicted), and I made it clear that I wasn’t going to talk to her about the legality of what was being done.  I was, though, prepared to be a support for her.  To listen, and to give personal advice.

God, the whole thing felt so much like when I left my Old Job - how COULD I not have supported her?  So, I listened, and sympathised, and told her about the importance of finishing up and moving on.  But she wanted to tell some people what was happening in her area, and I understood the reasons why.  If she wanted to have her say, I advised, she needed to be calm and rational.  The more psycho she came across (no matter how much it was deserved), the less her words would mean.   Calm down, prepare what you will say, deliver your message, and leave.  Leave the listener with the feeling that you are telling them these things “more in sorrow than in anger.”

There was another dilemma: what would I do about this situation?  Soon after the Arsehole joined, I gave a warning to the HR people about him, suggesting that they keep an eye on his behaviour.  I also had a number of senior people say things to me about the Arsehole, so it was clear some people were onto him.  But now, with the situation with Olive, what would I do?  Especially since others in her team had started to talk with me about their issues.

The other challenge was that Olive had been pushing for her Government team to report to me.  While I’d love to have that area, I was concerned about the issues in my role as a leader in the Company.  I really try and avoid undermining others at all costs.  The last thing I wanted was to be seen to be speaking up to manipulate the situation.  But how could I ignore the way people were being treated, right under my nose?

So, when I found myself in the elevator with the top HR dude, I quietly dropped a bomb: “there are problems in that team”, I said, “you might want to look into them.”  And out of the lift I stepped (much like the Phantom).  I also thought I should say something to Dumb Boss (but got waylaid by the shock of my own bizarre performance review – see last post!).

Yesterday, Olive went to see the CEO.  He opened their conversation by apologising to her, and promising to look into the issue.  Yesterday afternoon, Dumb Boss rang me.  He asked me what I knew about what was going on.  I went up to see him.  “Should we be losing Olive?”  No, I said.  She’s a dedicated, smart, good worker.  We are nuts to let her leave.  But, and here’s the rub: I thought that, after everything that had happened, she would be better off getting a fresh start.  It would be best for Olive if she took the money and ran.

Dumb Boss confessed that he had been pushing for me to get the Government Team transferred to me, so I made it clear to him that, while I’d love to do it, I wasn’t after the job, and I was just about making sure they understood the issues with the Arsehole.    Apparently, news of other complaints about the Arsehole have filtered up to the CEO, who is working out that the Arsehole isn’t very good at his job.  God Bless Dumb Boss: he is still pushing for the change.  But the CEO has (wisely) decided to sit on the decision: if he moves part of the Arsehole’s team to me, he may as well fire him.

I am really proud of the Company for having this conversation.  At my Old Job, the CEO would have just let this dreadful situation continue until more lives were lost, or something gi-NOR-mormous blew up.  God, I hope something happens to sort this situation out!

At the end of the day, I’m glad I said something.  While I’ll never know what impact my speaking up had, at least I know that I can live with myself; that I wasn’t one of the people who sat in corners gossiping, but not being courageous enough to stand up for the human beings I work with.

One of my Management Team asked me last week why I felt I had to say something (I had told her about my elevator conversation with the HR dude).  Although it’s probably a little exaggerated for this context, I told her, it’s probably because the saying that most irks me most is this one:

“All it takes for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing.”

The year end: when pride and melancholy merge

It’s when you reach the end of each year that you really appreciate how quickly they go.  Life is full of that sad cocktail of time whizzing by, but also grateful awe with what has been achieved.

I started my year consulting to the corporate regulator on a major corporate collapse, looking after the wash-up of mum and dad investors losing all or most of their dough because of some selfish and negligent corporate management.  Corporate Lunacy at its worst.  But I did some good for real people, and am so proud.

Before I started with the Company, I spent 7 wonderful weeks travelling to places as diverse as New York, Italy, Greece and Fiji (I basically just got to list all the places I wanted to go to and shove them into the one air ticket – spending some of my pay-out was truly fab).  My favourite moment was on the Greek island of Santorini where, after 5 weeks of travel, I was waiting for the bus to the capital, Fira.  One of Greece’s crazy taxi drivers asked me if I wanted a ride for 10 euro, saying the bus wouldn’t be along for another 45 minutes.  Normally, I’d have jumped at the chance.  But instead I slowly considered it and said “No thanks, I’ll wait”.  That moment, I think I was the most relaxed of any time in my life.  It was wonderful: relaxation in my core, the depth of my being.  Why oh why can’t life be like that more often?

Then I started at The Company and set about resolving the issues that had beset the Legal team for so long.  Sure, there were some bumpy times and some desperately low moments.  But they are behind us.  In that time, I have started to turn around our recruitment reputation, and brought on board some really wonderful new team members.  Plus, we’ve motivated and focused the great people who were already there.  I laid out a 3-year vision so they can see where we are going; no-one before had done that with them and followed through.

We had a bit of turnover in the first few months, as people who had waited too long for new leadership got itchy feet and headed off.  Happily, most left with regret as they wished they could also be part of what we were doing.  Two went overseas.  One very talented young lawyer told us she wanted to try private practice for a time, so I picked up the phone to the law firm she wanted to work with, and organised for them to meet her.  And she got that job.

Of course there were the people who we were glad left: the team is lighter, more hopeful without the weight of them.  But God there were tough times.  I learned a lot of new lessons this year, I can tell you. 

As for the Dispute Resolution Team, they are in a state of flux.  The new manager is wonderful – the whole team loves her, and she was exactly the right choice.  Two of the lawyers, Lisa and Anne, are like the Bobsy Twins - they always have their heads together.  They are the biggest fans of Mark, and live their lives seeking his approval.  As it turns out, they seek approval a lot, including from me.  Lisa is more the problem child – she’s like a duckling who adopts whoever walked past last as its mother.  Anne, on the other hand, is different.  Between the two of them, she’s the leader.  She resigned earlier this year, before I arrived, because her manager was such a disaster.  When I announced her old manager was going, she rang me the next day and asked to come back, which she did on a 12 month contract.  She was grateful for a second chance and, even when I announced Mark was leaving, she said I had her support (even though she knew her friends would crucify her if they heard her say it).  Our strategy with Lise and Anne is to divide and conquer.

This last week, we told Anne that, not only did we want her to lead one of our project teams next year, but that we were making her role permanent.  She was overjoyed, and said “I’ve been vindicated!”.  I think she’s referring to the frequent drinks/dinners/lunches that the DR Team (both current and former members) have to pick over the bones of old times, and bitch about old and new management in Legal.  I imagine they all told her that I was systematically trying to get rid of all of them, and I wouldn’t make her role permanent.  How wrong they were.

Meanwhile, Lisa was told that she missed out on leading a project team in 2008 – that she didn’t have the leadership skills the others had.  She is disappointed, but will be uncertain how to react to Anne’s being successful.

We’ll see how that goes the next year.

My old Job III: Life after perfection

I must confess that the award I took home that night in 2006 is a pretty sexy item.  One of my old team, taking matters into her own hands, stole that chunk of glass, hid it under her jacket, and delivered into my hands.  She felt its rightful home was with me.There were plenty of people at my farewell, but one was notably absent: my old boss, the CFO.  He never said goodbye, not even a peep.  I think I became an embarassment to him, a reminder of his own poor communication and mismanagement.

 Today, the CFO is despised by his peers.  They assure me that the way he treated me is one of the many reasons they think he needs to leave, but the CEO keeps him there nonetheless.  He and the new Group General Counsel ended up hating each other: the General Counsel whistleblew to the CEO and Board about an acquisition in the UK that had gone all bad.  The CFO was right in the centre of the accusations.   Ugly stuff.

My old team is half gone, with most of the others scattered in the business.  All of them hate the new General Counsel (who’s not new anymore – he’s been there for 2 years!).  They remember the halcyon days, like I do, with great fondness and pride.  I got a Christmas card from one of my old staff the other day that said “It’s only with hindsight that I can truly appreciate what a great leader you are, and what a wonderful team we had”.  Those are the moments I treasure.

The company has found itself on hard times: the share price is 1/3 lower than a year ago, they’ve issued their third earnings downgrade this year, and a “CEO in waiting” has been brought in.  The media stories are all bad, and an acquisition they made in the UK turned bad very quickly (yes, they were supposed to have been focusing on Asia; they got desperate for growth).  And I sit here, missing what it was, but glad to be gone.  Wonderful people keep leaving – some voluntarily; others as part of the rationalisation of Corporate Office.  They tell me it’s not the same. 

When I left my old job, my mother told me she’d had a dream.  She dreamed that I sued the company because I worked so hard for them that my life had passed me by.  That hit me like a knife to my heart.  She was right.

Now, I struggle to become loyal to my new Company.  In many ways, while I find the work far less challenging, and the people less intelligent, I know they are kinder to people who go.  But I don’t know if I can find it in myself to be loyal to my core to another company again. 

My old Job II: the horrible middle bit

I was told in September 2005 that this new guy was being given my job.  He would arrive in January of 2006.  I had four months left to be in this role I loved, to be with my team. I immediately took my title off my email signature.  Looking at it hurt too much.

They said they wanted me to stay.  When I told them I would leave, I was wheeled in to spend an hour and a half with the CEO.  Please don’t go, we love you, we’ll find you another role, they all said.  And they did try and offer me one or two, but they weren’t right.  I could have become the local General Counsel – but how could I accept a demotion when my performance had been so good?  How could I explain why I did it?  No, get the numbers ready, I said, I’ll be heading off.

While this was going on, arguably the biggest crisis in the company’s history was going on – and I was front and centre in it.  For 9 months, I not only endured the crisis, but also the knowledge that I would soon be out of a job.  I lost sleep, broke out in a rash: I knew I wouldn’t do one thing, though, and that was go out with a stress claim.  I didn’t want to be that person.

Some days, I know I lost perspective.  Occasionally (but not too much) I cried in my office.  When my team found out, they were mortified.  This was unfair, just plain wrong.

Meanwhile, there was the team.  The most wonderful group.  My management team were stellar – we worked like a well oiled machine, and kept things humming along, and the team happy.  Our staff engagement was one of the best in the company (no easy feat for a group of cynical lawyers!) and the only people who left were the ones moving to other states.

I moved out of Legal into a temporary business role in March 2006 to help clean up the last vestiges of the crisis.  We agreed that I would stick around for 6 months in commercial roles to see if a suitable alternative role came up.  In April, I received an email saying that the Legal Team were finalists in the National Law Awards for “In-house team of the Year.”  I was torn: how should I handle this?

The new General Counsel turned out to be pure evil.  The team in his old law firm all held a party on the day he left because they were so delighted to see him go.  Even our local managers in China thought he was such an asshole that they asked his old law firm partners “Is he evil or just stupid?”.  Evil, apparently.

He was particularly nasty to me, and made sure all his communication was via email.  He was all class.

Well, we won that award.  And I went up to collect it (I just told the new guy I was going to: it was my team, and for 2005, the year I led them).  The new guy didn’t even bother telling the team they’d been nominated: “We won’t win” he said.

When we, embarrassingly enough for him and for the CFO, did take out the gong, he sent out a congratulations to the team and gave them all a reward, but promptly forgot to include me in anything.  Not unpredictably, the team didn’t win the following year (I was at the awards dinner, and my heart was in my mouth the whole time).  He didn’t bother sending anyone to attend the dinner (there was silence when their nomination was read out, much to the host’s amusement and in great contrast to all other nominees) and, when the team lost, he said “Well, they were never going to give it to us 2 years running.”  Another award that night went to the same team for the third consecutive year.  Hmmm. 

The final chapter of Old Job will appear in the New Year.

My old Job I: Happier times

I have referred from time to time about my old job.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have seen alot of media coverage about the company I used to work for.  I was the Group General Counsel of one of the biggest listed companies in my country.  When I was appointed, I was only 34 – leading a team of 30 people.  I thought all my Christmasses had come at once and, in many ways, they had.

The company, the business and the people were wonderful.  When I first arrived, I felt like a kid who’d accidentally been seated at the adults table.  These people were smart, smart, smart.  For 4 years, I learned an incredible amount – about leadership, strategic thinking, and how to run 100 miles an hour while juggling a million balls.  I turned an underperforming team around, and there were incredibly difficult times – the usual challenges with people, plus I made plenty of mistakes along the way, too.

In 2004, the company started pursuing offshore expansion with vigour.  They were so huge in my home country, they knew they needed to grow globally, and fast.  The focus was Asia (as is everyone’s it seems).  There were deals, deals, deals in the pipeline.  Our CEO (a wonderful man) unfurled a grand plan to move to the majority of our earnings being offshore.  People were excited, invigorated. 

But analysts were sceptical: could they really pull it off?  So many before us had tried to expand internationally and had ended up with egg on their face, tanking share prices, and disillusioned investors.

Sure, we knew all of this, but the company, the CEO, the CFO and the Board all thought this wouldn’t happen to us: we were smarter than that.  We wouldn’t make those mistakes.

The only problem was that expanding globally, and especially in Asia, is hard.  Really really hard.  The way of doing business in many Asian countries is chalk and cheese compared to the West.  Contracts, for example, mean nothing in China; they’re just a way to record how you’re thinking at the moment.  Things can change afterwards.  Completely.  Plus, you generally can’t buy 100% of Asian-owned businesses.  You have to take minority stakes and slip into unwritten exceptions controlled by inpredictable regulators who observe form over substance when it suits them.  And you have to hope to God that all the predictions on growth in emerging economies are true.

It didn’t take too long before my employer got itself into warmish water: suitors we had stroked for months started cooling to us.  Deals in the pipeline started to dry up a little…but the company ignored all this, and started building grand plans for an “international” business.  We were to have a corporate head office, and country-based businesses.  It would be command and control from the “Corporate Centre”.  Rumours, then plans, started to circulate about splitting up various departments and roles, mine included. 

One day, I got called into my boss’s office and he gave me a hint that I “might not get the Group job”.  There was no hint as to why – performance had never been an issue for me.  I was well respected, and had built a fantastic team.  Months went by, and more hints flowed, but never anything tangible.  Then, one day when I was on holiday, the phone rang.  It was my boss.  He wanted me to hear it from him first: he had hired a new Group General Counsel.  A partner of a law firm in China.  CHINA!  An expatriate from my own country, who got his law degree from here, and then has lived in China half his life! 

My boss thought this was a great coup.  He figured this would help him land those deals in Asia: a strategic hire.  A friend of min described this guy as a “bright shiny object” that the CFO ooohhhed and aaahhhed over.  So distracting they forgot to care for the person who had served loyally for so long.

I became so stressed I took another week’s leave.  It was then that the lies and broken promises started.  I was being told one story; others another.  It was months before the new guy was to arrive.  I looked at my title in the signature line of my emails, and a lump caught in my throat.  Suddenly, I felt like a fraud.

And how could a guy from China know our law?  How could he lead this wonderful team I built?  As it turns out, he couldn’t.  More next post.

When you are the subject of gossip

I’ve never really been all that keen on spreading nasty gossip about other people.  I’ll complain with the best of them when there’s something that I think doesn’t match up to the values a company or person is meant to stand for, or where there is a promise broken or a lie told.  But I won’t buy into gossip about someone, especially if I’ve never even met them.

However, that doesn’t mean I’ve never been the subject of gossip.  I imagine that most people have been the subject of gossip at some time in their lives.  Sometimes you find out about the gossip; other times you don’t.  I am fortunate enough to have a number of close friends who will tell me what others are saying (although I often wish I didn’t know what this was – is knowledge really power?)

I know that I’m doing this blog anonymously, but I’ll tell you a couple of things about me:  I’m 39, female and single.  This means that, the last two times I have joined organisations, one of the big rumours about me is that I might be a lesbian.  This one amuses me mainly, and I figure that my sex life (or, sadly, lack thereof) isn’t anyone’s business but my own.  Now, I’m not a lesbian.  But it goes to show that people spend their time speculating in ways that make no sense and will give no-one any real satisfaction.  And, let’s face it, this isn’t a particularly damaging rumour in the scheme of things (unless John Cusack or Hugh Jackman were planning to ask me out, but are confused by all those rumours).  Plus, it makes me feel a little like that red-headed chick, Marcia Cross, from Desperate Housewives, who was plagued by similar rumours and complained that, just because she was single and 40, everyone figured she must be a lesbian.  Now she’s married with a baby, so you sure showed them, girlfriend!

However, there are other, nastier rumours that seem to raise their ugly heads, and often it’s hard to know what to do about them when they come to your attention.  In one way, hearing rumours about yourself proves you have a profile: if people you have never met are gossiping about you, or have an opinion about you, then at least people know who you are!

Here are some rumours I’ve heard about myself:

1. I was fired from my last job (untrue!  The truth is that I was offered a role and turned it down, walking away with goodwill and a large pay-out after my old role became redundant).

2. They took months to get rid of me in my old company (untrue!  we agreed that, after my old job was made redundant, I would move to other work in the business while they looked for a suitable alternative role for me)

3. I hold a grudge (untrue!  I tend to always try and see the other person’s side, and am pragmatic about why and how people make decisions.  Those who work closely with me tell me I’m tough but fair; and that I have a lot of compassion)

4. I fired a friend of someone I’ve never met (once again, when I got to the bottom of this bizarre rumour, I found out that the person I supposedly fired had never even worked for me!)

There are plenty of others, and hearing rumours about myself makes me even more sceptical about things I hear about people I don’t know.  I will always try and give someone the benefit of the doubt, and take everything that’s said with a grain of salt.  If someone wants to say something nasty about someone to me, I’ll turn them away.  Life and business is tough enough without having to field opinions that are irrelevant.

Recruiting the Best

One of the things that I’ve been told I do really well is to recruit great people.

Really, any leader who plans to build or maintain a top notch team needs to get recruitment right, pretty much every time.

The most inspirational thing I’ve ever read about recruiting was written by David Ogilvy, the founder of the international advertising firm Ogilvy & Mather.  In his book, Ogilvy on Advertising, he talked about how he used to send his people off to start O&M’s international offices.

He would give each of them one of those Russian Dolls, which open up in the middle and, inside, another doll comes out.  This goes on until you reach the smallest of a number of dolls.

Those people who were curious enough to open up all of the dolls would find a note from Ogilvy that read something like this:

If you hire men smaller than yourself, you will build a company of dwarfs.  If you hire men greater than yourself, you will build a company of giants.

To this day, that quote knocks me off my feet.  I think of it all the time when I am recruiting.

We are all waging the “war for talent”.  In such times, it can be easy to compromise and take second best, simply because the market is tight or you don’t have the time to keep searching for the “right” person.

As I’m becoming a bit of a “specialist” in team turnarounds, I’ve found that recruiting the right people is absolutely critical.  This is particularly so if a team is bruised from its past.  They need to see you hiring people that they respect and who they want to work with.

Here are some rules of thumb that I have followed over the years, and they’ve been the key to my success in finding wonderful people:

1. Listen to your gut instinct.  Someone can look terrific on paper, and even give you the strong impression that you ought to be impressed by them.  However, if your gut tells you there’s something wrong, that’s probably because it is.
2. Wait for the right person.  Sometimes getting someone on board right away is crucial.  Most times, you can get by.  Never, ever hire someone just because you are desperate.  Get a contractor instead while you recruit.  Muddle along.  Outsource it.  Just, whatever you do, don’t sign up that dud!
3. Build a relationship with a recruiter.  If you are in the sort of industry where you use external recruiters or head hunters, pick one and stick to them.  Build a relationship over time, and take the time to help them understand what sort of person you are after.  This will pay off in droves, as they will immediately know if someone is right for you.  They can even get in early on a great hire who they think will fit your culture just because they know you well.  I’ve found this recruitment relationship particularly important because I’ve recently had to rebuild a dreadful external recruitment “brand” – my current team has, historically, been the last place in the legal market that anyone wanted to work.  All because the past leadership was so bad.  Having a great recruiter who could tell our story of renewal in the external marketplace has been crucial to our recently hiring some great people.  Even if we don’t end up hiring everyone our recruiter talks to, our message about the team changing is getting out there in a positive way.
4. Candidate care is critical.  Make sure that any candidates (yes, even the ones who you don’t want to hire) get treated well, and are kept informed.  All along the way.  Keeping a great candidate “warm” while you are interviewing others may be crucial to your not losing them.  Regardless, you want them to think that, even if they missed out on the job, they were treated with respect and professionalism.
5. Hire the person first; the skill set second.  Never hire someone just because they have the skills you need.  Unless they are going to be a good fit for your team, you are better of waiting until the right person comes along.  Plus, more often than not, you can train a smart person with the right attitude.
6. Build a strong referral network.  In a tough recruitment market, it’s no longer possible just to draft a snazzy ad, put it in a prominent place in the newspaper, and expect CV’s to roll in.  Call your contacts in other companies, and ask your staff to refer names to you so you can approach potential candidates (either direct, indirectly through your contact, or via your recruiter).  These sorts of referrals pay dividends big time.
7. Never, ever, ever treat people badly.  Your reputation as a leader is key to keeping, and hiring, the best.  People who leave your organisation will talk.  Make sure they are saying great things.
8. Be prepared to work in the individual candidate’s time frame.  Some candidates are in the market for a flash of an eye.  Once people know they are available, they’re gone.  You might need to make them an offer straight away.  With others (particularly people who you have approached via your networks), they may take a long time to decide whether or not they really want to leave their current job…while you need to be patient.  Giving people this space is a sign of respect, and that (if successful) you’ll be getting someone who is thoughtful and loyal.  Take the time.  Wait for the best.
9. Take careful references.  Once you have picked a candidate, if at all possible, make sure you speak to people they’ve worked directly for in the past.  Ask hard questions about team fit, initiative, attitude, why they left.  Listen for subtle hints of any problems.  Explore gaps or development needs with care.
10. Once they’ve accepted your job, give them a call.  Touch base with them.  Tell them how excited you are that they are coming on board.  Invite them to any “team” events between now and when they join.  Give them your number, and let them know where to turn up on their first day.
11. Make sure their first day feels like a hug from their new team.  A first day is the closest you come to feeling like that new kid in school.  Take the time to welcome your new staff member.  Make sure they are set up with all the technology they need.  That they have a phone number.  Give them pens and paper – hey, show them where the toilets are!  Give them information about their new team and their new company.  Take them to lunch.  Get them off to a great start.
12. If your new person isn’t working out, admit it ASAP.  It will be better for both of you in the long run.  Hopefully, your screening will have weeded out the duds before they joined.  Use their trial period wisely.  If in doubt, see them out.

There’s one other thing that was said to me, by an inspiring CEO who I worked for in my old job.  He was an ex-sportsman, who represented his country in team sports.  He once said to me:

Don’t just build a team of champions; make sure you build a Champion Team.

There’s no point in hiring the best in the market if they are difficult to deal with, they come in only to run their own agenda, or they simply don’t become a real part of the team.

Go ahead: Build your company of giants.

Hello world!

Hi there.

This blog is a crazy experiment to see if anyone is keen to follow a transformation of a team of professionals in a corporate lunacy environment.

Four months ago, I became the General Counsel (ie head of Legal) for a local operation of a major international company.  I’m just gonna refer to it as “the Company” and be done with.

Until last year, I was working somewhere else, and had taken an underperforming legal team to an award-winning one.  We had the most wonderful team I’ve ever had the pleasure to be a part of and, let me tell you, I made some mistakes along the way with leadership issues.  But, despite my blunders, we got there in the end.  Along the way, I learned a lot, and found there was nothing more exhilarating than creating, and being inspired by, a wonderful team of people.

I took the job with the Company because, for the last 4 years, I have heard about how hopelessly their Legal team has been led.  My heart went out to the lawyers in it; wonderful people who had been beaten to a pulp while part of the team, and then again on their way out the door.  A team who was given no direction or future, and who, again and again, had terrible leaders appointed who just took them to new lows.

There are all sorts of parts to my story: what we’ve done so far, what lunacy I’m encountering along the way, why I left my old job and what’s happened to them since (a lunacy story in itself).  I’ll try and get to all of that along the way, and maybe share my thoughts and seek your feedback on how to handle some of the more lunatic moments and people. 

The one thing I was keen to do is to have a way of recording what happens.  Maybe I can help others create similar transformations, or we can all just work out how to build and lead wonderful teams together.

The one thing that I’m really passionate about is great leadership: the sort of leadership and humanity that makes your eyes fill with tears, and that makes you want to be a better person.  Those Mr Smith Goes to Washington/ West Wing/ To Kill a Mockingbird/ Band of Brothers type moments.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be that type of leader: the type who puts their people first and creates a platform for greatness in others.  Who doesn’t seek accolades, but quietly goes about the business of making theirs the no 1 team in whatever space they are in.

I’ll try and post an entry at least every week, and I’d love to hear from you (esp your great CL/ Corporate Lunacy tales).  They make us feel like you’re not alone!