Beyond legal advice

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Lawyers are uniquely positioned to become exceptional leaders. Every day, they navigate complexity, resolve conflict, build trust, and influence important decisions without formal authority. Yet they are often viewed primarily as advisors rather than leaders. In reality, many of the skills developed through the practice of law are the very skills organizations seek in their executives and senior leaders.

Organizations increasingly need leaders who can align competing interests, navigate uncertainty, and build consensus across diverse stakeholders. These challenges are not unfamiliar to lawyers, who routinely balance competing priorities, manage risk, and facilitate difficult conversations among individuals with differing objectives. 

Skills for success

While technical expertise remains important, effective leadership often depends on emotional intelligence, communication, and the ability to empower others.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage emotions in ourselves and others, and to use that understanding to navigate relationships effectively. Lawyers develop this skill daily through client counselling, negotiations, and conflict resolution. 

It’s enhanced through the practice of empathy, which, like a muscle, becomes stronger the more it is exercised. Empathy helps people understand the perspectives and experiences of others and use that to build effective relationships.

Lawyers regularly practice empathy and navigate conflict. For instance, when negotiating a settlement agreement on behalf of a client, a lawyer often centres negotiations on the parties' interests rather than their adversarial positions. These frequently relate to fundamental human desires and fears, such as recognition, fairness, security, and respect. Empathy allows lawyers to look beyond questions of fault and understand the parties' underlying interests. Identifying, acknowledging, and assessing these interests extends beyond the letter of the law and is deeply tied to human relationships and experiences.

Effective communication is more than speaking clearly. It requires active listening, adapting messages to different audiences, and building trust. Lawyers routinely translate complex legal concepts into practical advice for clients, executives, and other stakeholders. They also work with people from diverse professional, educational, and cultural backgrounds, requiring them to adapt their communication style to different audiences. In-house lawyers regularly interact with business leaders and business units, each with unique perspectives and objectives. To be an effective communicator, lawyers have to tailor complex messages to a wide range of stakeholders.

Great leaders empower others to perform at their best by cultivating trust, authenticity, and open communication. Lawyers routinely build rapport with clients and stakeholders before engaging in substantive discussions. This helps put individuals at ease and fosters trust. In addition, lawyers empower their clients by providing the information and guidance they need to understand available options, assess risks, and determine the path that best aligns with their objectives. Ultimately, this helps them make informed decisions. 

The ethical obligations lawyers owe to their clients, the justice system, and opposing counsel create a professional framework that encourages honesty, integrity, and accountability. As a result, relationships between lawyers and clients often develop authentically, allowing facts to be shared openly and candidly. Relationships between lawyers and other stakeholders are built on trust, professionalism, and consistent ethical conduct.

While lawyers regularly develop many of the competencies associated with effective leadership, legal training also rewards traits such as precision, risk awareness, and deep technical expertise. Although these qualities are valuable in legal practice, they can sometimes hinder leadership effectiveness when applied without balance. Self-awareness and reflection enable lawyers to recognize these tendencies, adapt their approach, and leverage their strengths while managing potential limitations. For this reason, lawyers who understand both their capabilities and their blind spots are especially well-suited for leadership roles.

Leadership is learned through experience 

In my own career, the greatest periods of growth occurred when I stepped into unfamiliar situations, accepted stretch assignments, and embraced responsibilities that pushed me beyond my comfort zone. These experiences taught me that leadership often requires navigating ambiguity, balancing competing interests, and influencing outcomes without direct authority. Lawyers face these challenges every day. They are trained to solve problems, but those problems often exist in grey areas where there is no perfect answer. An in-house lawyer may be asked to align operations, finance, regulatory, and commercial stakeholders around a critical business decision. Although the lawyer often has no direct authority over those stakeholders, success depends on building consensus, managing competing interests, and influencing outcomes. These are leadership responsibilities in all but title.

Nobody is born a leader. Effective leaders develop and refine essential skills through continuous learning, stretch assignments, and practical experience. Far from being limited to legal analysis, the practice of law provides daily training in emotional intelligence, effective communication, and empowerment. These are not merely legal skills; they are leadership skills. Many lawyers already lead by guiding clients, aligning competing stakeholder interests, and influencing decisions without formal authority. 

As organizations increasingly seek leaders capable of navigating complexity, conflict, and human relationships, lawyers are well-equipped to step beyond the role of advisor and into leadership positions, make a meaningful impact beyond legal advice, and excel in those roles.

* Views expressed are not necessarily those of the Canadian Bar Association or Enbridge Inc., its affiliates, or any of their employees, officers, or directors.