In today’s in-house legal departments, legal operations professionals are often the catalysts for change: driving efficiencies, implementing technology, and pushing innovation forward.
The challenge? Unlike the General Counsel (GC) or senior leaders, most legal ops leaders don’t hold formal authority over strategic priorities and typically sit lower on the org chart than the rest of the legal leadership team.
The ability to “manage up” to influence, guide, and align the GC and leadership team without direct control has become a core competency.
This article explores strategies, mindsets, and practical tactics to ensure your ideas are heard, your initiatives are supported, and your team’s value is recognized.
Understanding “Managing Up” in Legal Operations
Managing up is not about manipulation or political maneuvering. It’s about building trust, anticipating needs, and aligning your work with leadership’s priorities.
In a legal operations context, this means positioning your insights and projects so they resonate with the GC’s vision, the department’s strategic objectives, and the company’s overall business goals.
The most successful legal operations leaders act as trusted advisors offering data-driven perspectives, surfacing risks, and proposing solutions that advance the department’s performance, presence, and visibility.
Step 1: Know Your GC’s Priorities Inside and Out
You can’t influence what you don’t understand. Every GC has a set of core priorities: sometimes explicitly stated, sometimes implied. These could include:
- Cost predictability for outside counsel spend
- Risk mitigation in high-exposure matters
- Talent retention within the legal department
- Improved cross-departmental collaboration with business units
- Successful digital transformation through Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) or matter management technology
- Visibility and positioning as “best in class” among industry peers
Pro Tip: Study the GC’s communications, listen closely in leadership meetings, and understand how departmental goals align with corporate strategy.
Step 2: Speak the Language of Business Outcomes
Legal ops may speak in efficiency metrics and cycle times, but GCs and CEOs tune in faster when you frame results in business terms.
Instead of: “We improved turnaround time for NDAs by 20%.”
Consider: “By improving the NDA process, we saved X attorney hours, freeing capacity for high-value strategic work.”
Translation matters. You’re not just improving processes; you’re creating measurable business impact.
Step 3: Build Credibility Through Quick Wins
Influence compounds when people see tangible results. Target low-friction, high-impact improvements early on, such as:
- Streamlining an approval workflow that frustrates attorneys
- Automating a manual reporting task
- Creating a simple, visual dashboard for spend and matter status
Quick wins build goodwill and show leadership you can deliver—making them far more open to your bigger initiatives.
Step 4: Anticipate Needs Before They Are Voiced
One hallmark of trusted advisors is proactive foresight.
If you know the GC is presenting to the board next quarter, prepare relevant metrics and visuals in advance. If a major litigation matter is trending over budget, flag it early with cost-containment options.
By solving problems before they become urgent, you demonstrate both strategic value and reliability.
Step 5: Adapt to Leadership Styles
Every GC and executive has a preferred communication and decision-making style:
- The Visionary: Motivated by big-picture transformation. Bring bold ideas, align with the corporate mission, and link to long-term gains.
- The Operator: Focused on structure, consistency, and risk management. Lead with process maps, timelines, and clear governance.
- The Analyst: Relies on data-driven decision-making. Present dashboards, benchmarks, and industry comparisons.
- The Relationship Builder: Values consensus and alignment. Emphasize stakeholder engagement and cross-functional collaboration.
Practical tip: Match your framing, pace, and detail to their style and tailor it for each leadership team member to boost your odds of buy-in.
Step 6: Align with Broader Corporate Strategy
Legal operations does not exist in a vacuum. Legal data and initiatives are also just business data and initiatives.
Your missions will gain more traction when they connect to enterprise-level goals, such as:
- Digital transformation and AI adoption
- ESG and “People Principles” initiatives
- Expansion into new markets
- Regulatory compliance readiness
- When your work helps the GC advance company-wide objectives, it becomes a shared priority, not just a departmental improvement.
Step 7: Master the Art of the “Executive Ask”
When you need approval, budget, or strategic endorsement:
- Be concise: Use a one-page summary or two-minute elevator pitch.
- Lead with impact: State the expected benefit upfront.
- Offer options: Present a preferred approach, but also alternatives with trade-offs.
- Pre-socialize: Brief key influencers before the formal discussion to secure early support.
The “executive ask” is a skill. It must be well-timed, well-framed, and outcome-oriented.
Step 8: Leverage Informal Influence Channels
Formal authority isn’t the only path to impact. Influence often happens between meetings, in hallway conversations, lunch discussions, or cross-functional working groups.
Cultivate relationships across the legal department and within business units. These allies can advocate for your ideas when you’re not in the room.
Step 9: Keep the Feedback Loop Open
Influence is not a one-time win; it’s sustained over time through transparency and responsiveness:
- Share progress updates in leadership meetings.
- Publicize success metrics tied to departmental priorities.
- Solicit feedback and adapt as needed.
A GC who sees consistent follow-through will trust you with larger responsibilities.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Even well-intentioned legal operations leaders can undermine their influence by:
- Over-engineering solutions that don’t address immediate concerns
- Drowning in detail without linking to strategic outcomes
- Bypassing stakeholders and surprising leadership with unvetted changes
- Overpromising on timelines or impact, damaging credibility
Conclusion: Influence as a Core Leadership Skill
In the evolving world of in-house legal, formal authority is no longer the sole driver of change.
Legal operations leaders who master the art of managing up through insight, credibility, and strategic alignment will shape decisions, secure resources, and advance transformation even without a seat at the executive table.
Your influence comes from trust, business acumen, and the knack for tying operational improvements to enterprise value.
Done well, managing up not only advances departmental goals but also cements your role as a vital strategic partner to the GC and leadership team.