MEET PASCALE RAHMAN

Please tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to hear about O Shaped.

I am Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Flex.    Flex is a $26 billion diversified manufacturing company with a global workforce of approximately 170, 000 employees across 30 countries.  Flex delivers technology innovation, supply chain, and manufacturing solutions to various industries and end markets. Although Flex isn’t a household name, we make a diverse set of products in everyone’s home and for the enterprise.   Simply put, Flex manufactures everything from vacuum cleaners, coffee machines, autonomous car modules, diabetes equipment, to industrial machinery and cloud data centers.

I first heard about O Shaped when Dan Kayne and I were on a panel together for one of Dentons fireside chats with partners a few years ago.  We were discussing what made for great client/law firm relationships. I was captivated with the O Shaped approach and keen to learn more.  We spoke afterwards and have continued to do so ever since.

What does O Shaped mean to you?

O Shaped means being a ‘well rounded’ lawyer. It is about focussing on the hard bit of leadership -- to equally develop and demonstrate human and business centric skills.  The human skills tie back to what O Shaped refers to as  ‘the people first’ philosophy.  This resonates with me and anchors my leadership style.

I am passionate about developing people – I see it as the primary role and responsibility of a leader.   Throughout my career, I have had that example set for me with a number of mentors and leaders who supported my development and helped me to transcend the legal function remit going beyond what is normally associated with the traditional the role of a lawyer.   I am now in a position where I see it as my responsibility to do the same for others.  

When we describe someone as O Shaped, what comes to mind? 

An O Shaped lawyer is someone who can step out of his/her comfort zone and expand their remit.   Lawyers are often subject matter experts, and the O Shaped attributes help them to broaden their outlook and capabilities.  If learnt, developed, and practiced, the O Shaped mindset and attributes can help people to build on their subject matter expertise and become more business focussed and outcomes driven.  It’s not the technical legal skills that enables you to be brought into the inner circle of trust with leaders in the business, it’s everything else – the ability to build relationships, influence, communicate clearly and work well with others.   These are the attributes that make the real difference and why O Shaped is so important to the legal profession.

Can anyone be O Shaped?

Yes, but you need to want to develop in this way. It requires a certain mindset – a growth and mature mindset to balance the responsibility of the role of a legal professional as well as the opportunity to go beyond the traditionally risk averse approach and put yourselves in the shoes of your business colleagues to help them achieve their objectives.  The balance is key.  Legal teams still need to be anchored in their role as a custodian of the values and controls of the company, but at the same time, they need to complement not contradict the business outcomes. In my experience, adopting an O Shaped mindset makes the job more interesting and  rewarding.

Which of the 5 Os really resonate with you?   

They all do, but there are two which resonate with me, in particular.

First, O for Opportunity – For me, this is about taking the opportunity to move beyond what you know and go and explore elsewhere in the organisation.  I want to emphasise again – this does not mean leaving behind your subject matter skills as they are essential for you to have the mandate to develop further.  The opportunity for legal professionals though is to go into areas where the business isn’t expecting you and where you can add so much to the conversation, the perspective, and the decision-making process. 

It is very common in our profession for people to become experts and stay in their swim lanes.  If you learn, develop, and practice the O Shaped mindset and attributes, the opportunities open up and multiply.

Second, I also relate to O for Ownership because it is about being co-responsible and accountable for business outcomes.  At Flex, we are driving that within the evolving role of the legal team, so we aren’t just being regarded as a support function, but one that is considered critical for the business and co-responsible for the business outcomes.   

What do you mean by being co-responsible?  

I heard something recently from a General Counsel of a well-known consumer brand who said I am not just a business partner; I am the business.  Being the business, thinking like the business, acting like the business, deciding like the business but at the same time exercising that balanced custodian role of doing the right thing always.  We aren’t abdicating the requirements of our control function role but -embracing the notion that you are the business.  Our professional skills give us the credibility factor, but to be co-responsible, we need to go beyond that and build trusting relationships with the business. 

What are the attributes of a great law firm/client relationship and how can O Shaped help to develop those relationships?

Looking at law firms gives you a perfect mirror to see whether they are reflecting the behaviours and mindset that are most important to you.  If I can see a law firm using this the ‘people first’ language that is central to O Shaped, it builds trust. The ‘people first’ philosophy is very simple and yet it is often missed in the legal industry.