Looking back on 13 years of entrepreneurship, our D&I report launch, and exploring what it means to be a role model.

Obelisk turns 13

Obelisk Support is now a teenager - how time flies!? It’s been an entire 13 years since I decided to embark on this exciting journey of entrepreneurship in the legal sector. What a ride it’s been…

Looking back, what has surprised me most is discovering just how vast my energy reserves were! Energy to run the business each day while parenting a new-born; energy to set up a charity at the same time as being the CEO and having to take so many decisions that affected so many people - our clients, our legal consultants, my team; energy to keep going, to keep forging connections and building relationships, to keep growing the company in the face of slow adoption and closed-minded attitudes . Gaining insights such as this and learning more about myself through self-reflection has revealed probably my favourite part of being an entrepreneur - the journey of self-discovery.

There are definitely many *ages* of a business. The beginning is a little bit like a fairy-tale age - both in how you rely on your creativity and imagination, but also in the way the business seems to grow not step-by-step, but to jump over stages and fast-forward. When you hit the scale-up phase and the engine runs fast, it feels like you leap-frog and, before too long, you find yourself a *teenager*.?

On top of sheer grit, it takes a lot of optimism not to quit in the face of the challenges entrepreneurs face daily. But I’m so glad that I didn’t throw in the towel. I cannot believe the things we as a team have achieved. We held on to our own vision for all this time to bring a more #HumanFirst vision to the legal profession through flexible work job design. Now the world has caught up with our purpose-driven vision and everyone is talking about the same things we were saying 13 years ago. I don’t think calling the Obelisk team pioneers is an exaggeration.

For me, the mission has always been bigger than just myself. It has never been just about the return on my investment and amassing personal wealth. It is about creating a community around the ideas that underpin Obelisk: matching the need for extra legal support in the corporate world with people who want to work more flexibly, thereby helping return and retain talent in the legal profession.?

It’s about a bigger cultural reshaping of the profession and being a driving force for greater diversity and inclusion that benefits all. In certain circles, this still remains something of a box-ticking exercise or is used as a marketing tool to boost revenue. Not to us: from the outset, we saw things that needed changing and thought that if no one else was going to do it, we would simply have to do it ourselves.?

Be the change you want to see in the world, as they say. We continue to do that each day. We’ve achieved so much, but it still feels like we’re only just getting started in some ways.

AI has to serve humans, not vice versa

I read an interesting article in the Financial Times recently, all about how the major legal tech providers are gearing up to provide generative AI products that are set to seriously disrupt the industry. The companies working at the forefront of developing AI-driven legal services technology include the Big Four professional services firms, information providers such as Thomson Reuters and LexisNexis, and a slew of tech vendors and managed legal service providers – it’s a wide-open field, in other words, with many a stake yet to be claimed.

These tools have the power to transform virtually every aspect of the industry. Which is very exciting if we’re talking about wide-scale automation that frees lawyers up to focus on what they’re good at and passionate about – providing their clients with the best possible legal advice. However, what I would hate to see is for AI-driven tech to end up stripping the legal sector of its human aspect.

What do I mean? Simply put, so much of the world of legal practice is about human contact, human relationships, and solving problems together in interaction with each other. I don’t want to see this side of the profession disappear. Nor do I want to see lawyers metaphorically chained to their desks even more than they often already are, working even longer hours to justify their continued employment in a world now dominated by generative AI.?

I say yes to efficiency through technology… but not at the expense of being #HumanFirst .

Humanity cannot be mimicked

Among her many talents, my daughter is an adept piano player. She and I both love classical music (I did try my hand at some violin playing back in the day!) and have found ourselves chatting recently about the difference between the music composed by humans and that composed by the latest generative AI tools. It really struck me how she perceived the “soulless efficiency” of AI compositions as no match for that produced not by the human mind, but the human soul.?

We both remembered just how powerful it was to witness a genius at work just a few weeks ago: the world-famous Italian pianist Maurizio Pollini, now 81 years old, came to perform at the Royal Festival Hall in London, and what an evening it was! Twice the maestro faltered as he struggled to remember the notes by memory before putting on a virtuoso performance in the second half with the help of his music scores and a page-turner. It’s an experience that I will never forget – the human frailty and dignity on display, the triumph in the face of adversity, and the sheer humanity of his playing.?

This is something that AI will never be able to replicate. Technology may now have advanced to a stage where it can mimic the outward appearance of human-composed music – but it cannot recreate something as indelible as the human soul, which is what truly brings music to life and gives its meaning and power. AI-composed music will, therefore, always lack that essential humanity that made Pollini’s performance so special for me and the other audience members that night. #HumanFirst , not AI-first.

The same goes for the legal profession too.?

Internships in the age of hybrid working

Earlier this month, I was struck by an article in the Financial Times lamenting what a different experience interns now have in the wake of the pandemic, when so many offices are half-empty as people continue to enjoy the flexibility of hybrid working. While I understand some of the frustrations outlined in the piece, I also couldn’t help but feel that today’s interns might need support to help guide them on this new journey. The way we did things before Covid-19 is gone for good, which means that the old internship model is also dead.? And leadership begins with giving and taking responsibility.

When we offer internships at Obelisk Support or our charity The Next 100 Years, we’ve found that the best outcome for everyone is when we gear the experience towards serving young people’s curious, entrepreneurial spirit. What do I mean? Simply put, young people don’t need to be told and directed what to do. They need to be encouraged to explore.?

As an entrepreneur myself, I feel that what’s really required in order to get the best out of any internship experience (whether working in-house or remotely) is for young people to bring their own ideas and to dare to be different – respectfully and within the bounds of the company’s values and code of conduct, it goes without saying. It’s all about learning to add value to the company, be entrepreneurial, think on your feet and stand out.

For example, we have had interns who took responsibility for social media and video-editing work early in their placement. Rather than waiting for us to provide them with a list of daily tasks to complete, these impressive young people seized the opportunity for independent working and really grew into the task of messaging effectively in the brave new world of digital communication we now all find ourselves in.?

I found this very impressive, and I believe that these kinds of entrepreneurially minded young guns set the trend in lowering the number of years of PQE at which lawyers depart from law firms and strike out on their own as consultants, founders and businesspeople. These are the people who are having the biggest impact on our industry, in my opinion, and their journey often starts as an intern who was encouraged to be curious and proactive.?

This month, I’m excited about…

Obelisk turning 13. The birthday marks another pace-change in the development of the business as it continues to evolve. This is genuinely very exciting, and who knows where the journey will take us next.

I’m also excited about the publication of our “Diversity, Inclusion and Law” report and its launch at a super special House of Commons event. Our research continues our work in looking to accelerate change collectively.

We have been speaking to so many GCs who have felt alone in driving forward their respective company’s Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) initiatives and frustrated by the fact that, in many instances, their efforts in this regard aren’t really being reflected by the company as a whole.?

However, through their dialogue with us, these GCs are now realising that many other GC colleagues are in the same boat as them. Our mission is to amplify their voice. Together, we can create greater transparency around what is happening in the realm of diversity and inclusion, celebrate and publicise each other’s achievements in this crucial domain, and thereby really become a collective impetus for change.

Please share your own D&I initiative with us here , together with your ideas and challenges, so that we can help to compel positive change in our industry further.

And finally, what does a role model mean to you?

“In my view, solidarity is a magic word. It translates into every culture and language on Earth. Christians call it fellowship, Muslims call it ummah, some people in Africa call it ubuntu – ‘no me without us’. And solidarity is a magic word because it describes the destination, but it also describes the means of transport.”

Baroness Sharmishta Chakrabarti, speaking at the evening event in the House of Commons to celebrate the publication of Obelisk Support’s Diversity, Inclusion & Law report.?

Do you have any other female role models in the world of law that you would like to see featured here? Or any thoughts on what it means to be a role model? Please don’t hesitate to get in touch and share your thoughts.

I hope you enjoy this month’s edition of Truth Be Told, and welcome your comments and feedback.