Law Department Management Blog
An interview of Amy Schulman, Pfizer’s top lawyer, offers insights into her view of her role, power, and risks. Found in the NY Times, Dec. 11, 2011 at BU2, her comments on leadership are perceptive. One of them all general counsel should take to heart. Schulman, in her exalted position as general counsel, understands that “people impute motives to you if you are not clear. It’s important not to be ambiguous or vague about what you want, because then people waste a lot of energy trying to figure out” what the GC wants.
She realizes it is a tough balancing act between shedding enough light and blinding every one (See my post of July 12, 2011: suppression of ideas by general counsel with 8 references.). Followers want clarity from the top but at the same time don’t want to be micromanaged. They can’t read your mind; they scrutinize and debate every word and action.