Serving as General Counsel requires navigating complex legal, governance, and leadership challenges. Often the GC is called upon during moments of heightened scrutiny, investigations, disputes, or reputational risks, rather than times of smooth operations. The weight of these responsibilities can be isolating. A trusted advisor who has served as a GC brings perspective to strengthen judgment, independence, and resilience. BarkerGilmore’s Strategic Advisors & Coaches have repeatedly delivered this perspective and proven value in the very situations GCs find most challenging.
Critical Scenarios That Benefit from Advisor Input
Regulatory Investigations
When regulators initiate an inquiry, precision and discretion are paramount. Advisors help GCs shape updates for leadership and boards that preserve privilege, deliver facts with clarity, and ensure oversight responsibilities are fulfilled without creating unnecessary exposure.
Ethics Complaints Involving Executives
Allegations directed at senior leaders, including the CEO or other key executives, create tension across management and the board. Advisors guide GCs through structuring independent processes, selecting outside counsel, and framing communications that protect organizational value while preserving integrity.
Cybersecurity Breaches
Cyber incidents require rapid escalation, whether in a public company subject to disclosure rules or a private company accountable to investors and customers. Advisors help define thresholds for materiality, prepare concise briefings, and align remediation plans with best practices. The result is focused oversight and disciplined external messaging.
Delivering Negative Developments
GCs often wrestle with whether, when, and how to escalate bad news. Advisors provide a sounding board for judgment calls, ensuring disclosures are timely, proportionate, and positioned to maintain trust with directors, investors, and key stakeholders.
Professional Development for General Counsel
Honing Board and Leadership Presentation Skills
Newly appointed GCs often have limited exposure to senior leadership and boards. Advisors coach presentation style, sequencing, and framing so decision-makers receive information in a manner that inspires confidence.
Fostering Relationships with Leadership and the Board
Balancing loyalty to the CEO with fiduciary duty to directors or investors is one of the GC’s most complex responsibilities. Advisors offer tested strategies for navigating this dynamic with credibility and independence.
Managing Perceptions
Repeatedly delivering difficult news can tarnish the GC’s standing. Advisors equip GCs with methods to pair challenges with solutions, reinforcing an image of steady leadership rather than constant crisis.
Combating the Loneliness of the Role
Confidentiality prevents many GCs from sharing struggles with colleagues. Advisors provide the safe outlet required to reflect, test ideas, and gain reassurance in an often solitary position.
Clarity in the Moments That Matter
The General Counsel role carries weight across every type of company. In the most critical moments, a trusted advisor can be the difference between leadership confidence and erosion of trust. BarkerGilmore offers confidential advisory relationships with former Fortune 500 GCs. Their experience and counsel ensures guidance that is both practical and strategic.
Connect with BarkerGilmore to access advisors who provide clarity, resilience, and credibility when it matters most.
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