An Introduction To Change Management
What do lawyers, especially in-house counsel, need to know about change management in these rapidly changing times?
Left to right, top to bottom: Monique Burt Williams, Tiffany Archer, Olga V. Mack, Julie Miller, Brittanie Chin-Merkerson, and Jennifer Chung.
If you’ve been feeling stressed out, anxious, or depressed over these past few months, you are not alone. When the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), a leading organization for in-house lawyers, surveyed its members in June, it found that almost 20 percent are experiencing depression, more than 40 percent suffer anxiety, and almost 75 percent have moderate to severe burnout.
It’s not hard to understand why, given that our nation is suffering through a pandemic and a recession at the same time. Our country, our economy, and our legal profession are going through a huge amount of turmoil and change — much of the change bad, but not all of it — and dealing with change is difficult, even during good times.
If you are a lawyer looking for guidance and support as you help your organization navigate all this change, consider looking to the principles of change management. For those of you who are not familiar with it, change management consists of “the process, tools, and techniques used to manage the human side of change for the achievement and sustainment of a desired business outcome.” Change management has revolutionized the business world — and it’s now being adopted in the legal world as well.
Earlier this month, I moderated a (fantastic) panel about change management for in-house counsel — sponsored by Cadence Counsel, the in-house division of the Lateral Link consortium of legal recruitment firms — which featured the following (superb) panelists:
- Monique Burt Williams – CEO, Cadence Counsel
- Brittanie Chin-Merkerson – Change Management Consultant, Johnson Controls
- Jennifer Chung – General Counsel, Accuweather
- Julie Honor – General Counsel, 3Q Digital
The discussion offered an excellent introduction to change management and its applicability to the in-house context, combining a theoretical framework with solid, actionable advice for in-house lawyers. You can watch it below — and I’m confident that you’ll find it as informative and enriching as I did.
Next month, we’ll be presenting the second installment in this free webinar series, focused on change management and corporate culture, including such crucial topics as compliance and diversity. It will take place on Tuesday, September 22, at 2:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. PT, and you can register for it here. Please join us for what I know will be a delightful conversation full of invaluable insight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho9EvM2BuqQ&feature=youtu.be
Change Management & Corporate Culture: Registration [Zoom]
Cadence Counsel Presents: Change Management for In-House Counsel [YouTube]
Earlier: Change Management For In-House Counsel
Ed. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts from Lateral Link’s team of expert contributors. This post is by David Lat, a Managing Director in the New York office, where he focuses on placing top associates, partners, and partner groups into preeminent law firms around the country.
Cadence Counsel is the in-house division of Lateral Link, one of the top-rated international legal recruiting firms. With over 14 offices worldwide, Lateral Link specializes in placing attorneys at the most prestigious law firms and companies in the world. Managed by former practicing attorneys from top law schools, Lateral Link has a tradition of hiring lawyers to execute the lateral leaps of practicing attorneys. Click here to find out more about us.
