This month, we kicked off Contract Insights, a new podinar series, which features interviews with leaders from across legal, sales, and procurement. What is a podinar? A podinar is part podcast, part webinar and available in video and audio formats so that you can watch or listen however you wish.
The series kicked off with special guest Sally Guyer, WorldCC's Global CEO, with host @Prashant Dubey, Agiloft's Chief Strategy Officer and Research Chair, to discuss how 2023 is the year that the general counsel (GC) takes their rightful place at the business strategy table, moving from just managing risk to driving revenue and strategic value to the business.
We’re excited to share some the key takeaways from this first episode, “How General Counsels Are Taking the Driver Seat in 2023 to Drive Revenue and Enable Strategic Decisions.”
- There needs to be a mindset shift around the role of the GC in organizations. Legal teams are more than a passive presence or solely focused on preventing the worst-case scenarios; they are also responsible for enabling successful outcomes from the contracts that a business enters into.
- General counsel needs to cultivate relationships with their peers – project delivery, sales, HR finance, procurement – and learn how the contract process is related to other areas of business strategy, and how they impact relationships with vendors, clients, and more. Contracts can contribute to important tactical elements, such as continuous improvement, business process re-engineering, and leveraging data and analytics to optimize process.
- Contracts are economic instruments – not legal weapons – and as such they are a team effort. They dictate the success of an organization. They need to be used as operational guides to the best outcomes, not only referred to when a dispute arises.
The future for general counsel looks bright, with opportunities to advance business goals and refine processes, while still doing the important work of securing business interests and reducing risks.
Got questions for Prashant? Join us in this thread to chat about the role of the GC in 2023. You can get more information about our podinar series and listen to new episodes here.