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I work in-house for a Canadian-based conglomerate in Mexico City. Here’s how i got here and some advice for anyone looking to move beyond Canada’s borders.

Technology has certainly provided us with the means to build solid relationships, but we fall short when we consider technology as our reality, instead of simply an operational tool.

As in-house counsel continue to face cost pressures from within their organizations, external counsel need to help. Leveraging technology to reduce costs while improving efficiency is an easy first step.

Our thirst for technology to do more, be more and solve more is unquenchable. So too is our desire to have our privacy protected. Is it possible to have both exist in tandem?

Is your team agreeing with you because it's a good idea or because you're the boss? How do you make it safe for them to suggest other approaches? How do you create a culture in which innovation thrives?

In recent years, “innovation” has become the legal industry buzzword that everyone is talking about. However, the true purpose and mechanics of innovation have largely been lost in myth and mystique.

I embrace innovation in my day-to-day work. I fiddle with our available technology. I habitually customize tracking spreadsheets. I kneel at the altar of internal optimization. My colleagues are either inordinately gracious or they sincerely appreciate my efforts. Internal innovation seems welcome. However, I have found client-facing innovation is not necessarily so.

Through proper stakeholder engagement, evaluation and implementation, we’ve been able to leverage innovations to help expand our legal operations and increase our value proposition at Pivotal.

Many departments in a company, like many sectors of the corporate world, embrace technology and innovation quickly, while others, like legal, seem to get left behind. We in the law group here at Bruce Power, however, focus on getting ahead.

As the first GC at a company, this author learned the importance of relationships, transferrable skills, being flexible and staying true to herself—and her knowledge continues to grow with her experience.