52 LEXPERT MAGAZINE
|
SEPTEMBER
/
OCTOBER 2018
IN-HOUSE ADVISOR
IN-HOUSE LEADERS
MUST INSPIRE TEAM
MEMBERS TO DEVELOP
THEIR STRENGTHS AND
PERFORM AT THEIR BEST
BY ANN MACAULAY
The art
OF TEAM BUILDING
LEADING A DEAL TEAM TO SUCCESS "is art, not
science," says Kate Chisholm, QC, who adds that the easy part of
working on a deal is pulling together all the necessary information.
"e hard part is the art involved with synthesizing all of that
information into a decision, because there's never a clear answer."
Now on her fourth general counselship, Chisholm has led several
deal teams as Senior Vice President, Legal & External Affairs at Cap-
ital Power in Edmonton. She says the best team leaders are those who
are careful and deliberately include team members in the decision-
making process, "who understand that the best business solutions
come from milking all of the value from very diverse perspectives."
Chisholm hires external counsel for expertise in specific areas and
says she's likely to take their advice, but "external counsel is never
going to know your company and your motivations and what spells
success for you as well as you do." She minces no words when it comes
to setting out the rules to an external deal team. "I never get into a
battle of egos because I make it very clear what questions I want them
to answer. I would never put up with somebody who was competing
with me in some way. I make it very clear where their sandbox is and
where my sandbox is. en you just have to stick to your sandbox."
Chisholm said she believes that the toughest part of negotiating
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK
