How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?  

The general counsel plays a key role during periods of instability or crises in a company. As trusted advisors, we are responsible for providing the management and overview and a robust assessment of the legal risks associated with the situation, in order to help them to take the right decisions. Protecting our employees and assets and ensuring no disruption to our client’s operations are our top priorities.  In such cases, having proper support from outside counsel and connections with bar associations and colleges is also key, since we can share best practices and experiences. 

How do you prioritise diversity and inclusion within your legal department, and what initiatives have you implemented to foster a more inclusive and equitable work environment?  

Diversity and inclusion matters are a top priority for my department. It is well known that organisations with strong diversity and inclusion foundations increase productivity, are more innovative and improve employee engagement.  Every day I work to build a culture of conscious inclusion for my team, where people can feel safe to show up as their authentic selves. As a leader, I am a fierce advocate for hearing everybody’s voice, encouraging all the team to bring its ideas to the table. Also, I intentionally try to develop relationships with people that are different than me and learn from them. Main initiatives I have implemented to foster a more inclusive and diverse work environment include constant training to the entire team about the matter; expand the scope of the search in the recruiting process to include people from different backgrounds and, consider the D&I policies implemented by a firm as an advantage during a selection process. 

How do you manage and motivate your legal team to ensure high performance and professional growth?  

If I had to define my leadership style, it would be “be open and honest”. Trust and transparency are essential to building a healthy and effective relationship with the team. Every day I encourage my people to explore different ways of solving a problem, empowering them to make decisions by themselves as an opportunity to grow. Recognition of outstanding contributions is also key to maintaining the levels of performance that our company requires.