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?

When a crisis emerges, it is our best opportunity to put our better skills into practice and to remain expectant because during those periods, you will learn the most. In my case, I believe that communication among your team is a priority during periods of crisis.

Effective communication and strong leadership are the skills that we need to maintain a focused team managing legal aspects during a crisis. It is also important to have a plan with a clear definition of roles and responsibilities to ensure that everyone is working towards a common goal. Flexibility is also key; everything can change from one moment to another, and a leader should be prepared to change the plan if the strategy is no longer 100% accurate for achieving the desired outcome. People are our best asset, and periods of instability or crises are not easy to face; in this sense, managing with empathy is also an approach that we need to develop to demonstrate strong leadership among our team.

When discussing the alignment of legal strategy with the overall business strategy, firstly, you need to know and understand your business and how the company operates within its markets, the relationship with the customers and suppliers, distribution chain, and more. Knowing exactly how your company makes its profits and invests is key. Also, it is important to find out what the competitors are doing in the market and the industry-wide legal issues so you can focus your contributions as a legal team. Then, set your goals aligned with the business goals and ensure that there is a prioritisation of the shared goals and agreed with management.

This effective communication, conducted in your company’s language and terminology, will improve relationships between teams. Goals and objectives do not remain static, as new issues regularly emerge, so it is important to remain flexible and open to new challenges and to redefine objectives as needed. Communication among your team with the goal of encouraging the sharing of new ideas and being open and active in gathering feedback from senior management or other teams are very relevant actions that you need to implement as legal head. Furthermore, when considering communication, it is key to continuously provide senior management with progress reports about the complex or relevant issues that the company is facing, whether they request them or not. This will demonstrate that you are aligned with the overall strategy, and they will consider you as a business partner rather than just a support function.