Hello from Heriot Brown - Blimey, It's December!

Blimey. It’s December!

Part of me believes that I must have been abducted by aliens and lost a few months.

The other part is fondly looking back at 2023 and excitedly planning for 2024.

It’s been thirteen years that you, as in-house lawyers, have put up with my general nonsense (thanks IH guys!)

Whilst probably blabbing along about the weather or how I cannae tell the difference between most law firms (sorry PP guys!) I’ve noticed that you are notoriously awful at showcasing your wins.

Don’t worry, it’s not necessarily a lawyer thing and we all feel a bit cringe about doing it.

But why not celebrate what we’re proud of??

In previous careers I learned to beat the cringe and share my team’s wins – and it worked! We were noticed!

This year, I’ve felt very lucky to be surrounded by cheerleaders (internally and externally) who encourage me to stop and appreciate the things I’ve done that have helped them. And this eggs me on to doing more.

So I’ve decided to share a highlight of 2023 every day that I’m working in December – I do hope that I’ve not put you off already – but more importantly, I do hope that you will also share your highlights.

So I ask you – What have you enjoyed about this year? What, or who, are you proud of? What was bloody difficult but you got through it? How did you stop the building burning? What did you learn?

I’d love to know and you can either share them in the comments or email me personally at emma@heriotbrown.com

If you’re struggling to remember all of the things that you, and your team, have achieved this year then I have a New Years Resolution for you – start a feedback folder, a word doc, notebook, sticky note (we love Trello at HB) and ensure that every time you (and/or the team) go above and beyond – you add it to your list.

I call mine “cool shit we did” but I saw recently a much politer, “smile file” post – whatever it is you call it, make sure that you record it.

How many emails are lost in your inbox with lovely messages of appreciation? Let’s record them, not only to show our achievements but also to brighten our days when times are tougher.

A wise GC friend once said to me, it’s difficult to quantify how great we are when we’re mostly tasked with making sure the ship doesn’t sink, and it doesn’t.

But think about what you’re doing to help keep afloat, BAU can only happen if the ship is sea worthy…

…So take a breath. Enjoy and celebrate your wins. I’d love to hear about them too!