Company Description: Gateway, Inc., who ranked 194 on the Fortune 500® with total global revenue of $9.6 billion in 2000, helps its clients meet all their technology needs.
Education: B.S., Yale University
M.S., Yale University
J.D., Georgetown University
Department Size: 30 lawyers; 75 total headcount
Immediate Prior Position: Vice President, Law and Deputy General Counsel, Gateway, Inc.
1. How would you describe your management style?
My management style has three components. First, I believe in the hands-on, roll-up-your-sleeves approach. I am involved in much of the department’s activity, working closely with the lawyers, whom I see as the experts. I supervise them closely until I am familiar with their capabilities.
Secondly, I believe in empowering them, giving them room, and not breathing down their necks. They are all experienced and talented professionals. So I let them do their thing while challenging them to excel.
Thirdly, I believe in an open door, communicative policy. I like constant interaction with the attorneys. I have regular discussions on large or small issues and I try to keep meetings relaxed and not too stuffy. Sometimes, for example, we may meet just for a few minutes in the hallway or outside in the courtyard.
2. What is the best career advice you have ever received?
When I started with a firm in Washington, DC, the founding partner focused on a range of international commercial work as well as working in developing countries. Above all, he emphasized the importance of being a really good, wellrounded lawyer. Following that advice has led me to work on a wide spectrum of legal matters and projects and to try and be a results-oriented problem solver. And it has led me to my position as general counsel, where I must think holistically—knowing what questions to ask and looking at the larger picture.
I am not a securities expert or litigator. Instead, I have a broad commercial and transactional background and I am able to talk with subject-matter experts and then integrate the pieces.
3. Describe your biggest professional challenge.
I have been blessed with wonderful mentors and colleagues; however, I have had to deal with the issue of stereotypes. Early in my career, I would walk into a boardroom that was full of white males, and they would display a momentary hesitation, as if they wondered if they were in the right hands. Eventually, within minutes or hours, clients would see past that stereotype. I overcame their preconceived views with results.
Minorities often have to overcome doubts and live up to higher standards. But it’s important not to dwell on that limitation. Our experiences and our backgrounds are part of our strength. We can take on and achieve anything based on competence and hard work.
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From the December 2001 issue of Diversity & The Bar®