Global Legal Director: a day in the life...
James Harper, Global Legal Director at LexisNexis, has been part of the business for over 10 years. James provides legal advice across our business, as well as being responsible for leading a series of projects driving efficiency and effectiveness for our legal teams. James also leads our Rule of Law and RELX Cares strategy for the UK and provides coaching as part of our Velocity programme.
James starts his day…
Around 6.30am. If it’s a Friday, James often goes to an outdoor circuits class. The rest of the week, he is up to feed his Bengal kittens Woody and Luna, before getting on with his children’s breakfast – one of the best outcomes of lockdowns and a transition to working from home.
James got his job...
In 2012, as the Head of UK Legal. Since then, his role has evolved.?James’s current position was a return to Legal after 4 years in a mainstream business role within our Go-To-Market team. Now he is back in the Legal team, his days include lots of emails, reviewing contracts and calls with colleagues around the world, as well as our customers and suppliers (although the best days are those where the issues aren’t typical!).
One transferable skill James wouldn’t have expected to use in his job…
…was an interest in how people’s minds work. During work experience while he was still at university, an old law firm partner said to James “I spent 6 years studying the law and the last 40 years practicing psychology”.
James believes that the point someone is arguing over often isn’t actually the issue - there’s something else worrying them. ?If you can work out what that something is, and then find a way of making that right, both parties can then move forward with a win-win result.?As a result, James has ended up with a deep interest in why people behave the way they do.
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The best part of James’ job...?
…is working closely with colleagues and then seeing them achieve something. It might be getting a deal over the line or solving a dilemma, but most rewarding is where working through something moves a colleague forward as a person.?
The Velocity coaching program at LexisNexis UK gave James the chance to combine the skills he has developed in his career with a toolkit of approaches which, together, can make a meaningful difference to how someone takes on a challenge.
The best career advice James has ever been given...
You aren’t judged by the mistakes you make but how you handle them.?
Everyone makes mistakes. On that basis, success can’t be about whether you have made a mistake (and so making a mistake doesn’t mean failure).?Instead, you are judged on what you do next. If you own your errors with humility, work out how not to do it again, and then get back on with things, you’ll get there in the end.
James’s favourite inspirational quote...
“Remember that you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think”
Christopher Robin (or AA Milne)