How not to be seen as a blocker

Jean Gan is on a mission to reverse the perception of her job role.

“Commercial teams often call legal counsels the ‘no’ department,” says Jean, a Singapore-based in-house legal counsel at a logistics group. “They see us as a deal breaker and they don’t like that.”

If she’s doing her job right, she says, she can enable her commercial peers to generate vital revenue while still keeping her employer on the right side of the law.  

“Business leaders tend not to focus on legal risk,” she says. “It’s all about growth for them. Yes, dollars and cents are important, but if you don’t mitigate the risks carefully, it will cost you. I’m here to try to meet the business goals while doing things the right way.”

Jean is a senior legal professional with over 15 years of experience leading legal operations across 11 jurisdictions. She has advised executive teams and boards in sectors including defence, engineering, IT distribution, manufacturing, logistics and trade. While much of her day-to-day work involves contract reviews – covering indemnities, liabilities, and risk management – she also leads on regulatory advisory, cross-border transactions and shaping regional legal strategy. Jean focuses on embedding legal thinking into business decisions and positioning legal as a strategic partner. 

The core of her job is challenging enough – but Jean recognises the importance of stepping outside the legalese and getting to know all the moving parts that make the business tick. 

“That commercial perspective is what sets you apart,” she says. 

Pursuing an MBA and a Level 7

In a bid to stay current and grow her business acumen, Jean embarked on the CMI-accredited MBA at Queen Mary University of London.

Her MBA specialism is leadership strategy, looking at things like organisational behaviour and the workings of departments such as HR, accounts and finance. Her learnings have enabled her to use tools like cost-benefit analysis when reviewing contracts, and she’s now better placed to advise on the potential implications of a proposed agreement on capex investment and the company’s financial risk. 

Jean is also examining her approach to leadership. 

“Having learned strategies from the MBA, I can now observe how different managers and leaders approach things,” she says. “I try to adopt the strategies that I learned. How do I handle the personality types that I observe? How can I angle in their direction?”