Let me tell you about a client of mine who was in charge of a division of a mid-sized public company. When he first became my client he invited me to sit in on his weekly staff meeting, where each of his department heads went through the things their departments were dealing with - problems, projects, strategies, etc. Just before the first meeting I attended he told me “Look, this is an open discussion. Nothing is off limits. If you hear something you don't agree with or think is going in the wrong direction, or if you have a better idea or think something is being overlooked, I want you to jump in. And I am not just talking about legal advice or legal issues; I am talking about anything and everything.”

I was a little surprised, so I asked him “Are you saying you want to hear my thoughts on non-legal matters? I don't want your department heads to think that I think I know more about their areas of expertise than they do. Or that I am sticking my nose where it does not belong.”

“No, no”, he said. “Everyone on my staff understands that this is how we do it and they are fine with it. I have carefully picked my department heads for not only their talent and experience in their particular area, but also based on their various personalities and life experiences. I have purposely put together a group of people who have different perspectives on things, different approaches, different points of view. By hearing many different takes on an issue, I believe I can make a better decision, and so can my department heads. And as an attorney, you are trained and experienced at identifying potential problems or risks, analyzing issues and evaluating responses, so you bring another, totally different perspective to the discussion. You will see things that no one else around the table sees.” And he was right. The dynamics of the meetings was incredible, my thoughts and ideas were welcomed and his division was very successful.

That client went on to become the CEO of a 6 billion dollar public company. He has been very successful in every business enterprise he has been involved with and I believe that a significant factor in that success is that he understands and appreciates the value of perspective.