The role of the general counsel goes beyond advising on legal and compliance matters. GCs wear many hats and a few roles brought up in one of today’s afternoon panels included government relations, compliance officers and even human resources.

Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, discussed during today’s Summit lunch session how our society is not making the most of introverts’ hearts and minds.

She highlighted some of the differences between extroverts and introverts. Introverts feel most alive and energized when they’re in environments with less “stuff” coming out of them (noise, light, etc.), while extroverts are exactly the opposite. She noted, however, that we don’t set up our world in a way where introverts can thrive. Our world is set up for mass amount of stimulation.

In today’s world, business is changing. It’s becoming more global, operations are making the world seem smaller with the increasing role of technology, we’re having to conquer language and cultural barriers and there are ever-increasing ethical challenges.  

Lauralee Martin, global chief operating and financial officer for Jones Lang LaSalle, believes the implications of this changing world are enormous. She stresses that with these complications and changing regulations, companies have to make sure their integrity, ethics, culture and hiring policies are stable from the beginning -- they have to set the right tone at the top. With that in mind, she said that the general counsel is now involved in everything companies do.

In times of crisis or not, a general counsel must be aware of his or her role and how he or she should communicate with the board. However, as noted by moderator Ann McLaughlin Korologos, former US Secretary of Labor and former chairman, RAND Corporation Board of Trustees, that role can oftentimes be conflicted given the GC’s seat on the executive management team while reporting to the board and keeping it advised.