Sandhya began her current general counsel role with the opportunity to build a legal team from scratch. Her preferred culture is deliberately low on hierarchy. New graduates, mid-career lawyers and senior colleagues are encouraged to use first names rather than "ma'am" or "madam". The change sounds small, but it tells a newcomer that questions can travel upward without ceremonial permission.
A hierarchy-free team still needs leadership. Sandhya spends substantial time mentoring, recognising individual strengths and matching people to work that expands them. She also warns lawyers that nobody is indispensable; for every professional, many others are ready to take the role. The answer is not anxiety. It is continued learning and visible contribution.
She resists confining team members to narrow boxes. Over time, lawyers should see contracts, compliance, negotiation, litigation and other parts of the function, even if workloads create natural areas of concentration. General exposure helps someone understand how an early business decision may later become a compliance question, a disputed clause or a board issue.
This model also improves succession. A department becomes fragile when only one person understands a major agreement or regulatory process. Shared context allows colleagues to cover during leave, challenge an assumption and take larger responsibility when a role opens. It is less glamorous than calling someone indispensable, and far healthier.
Proactivity is another cultural standard. Sandhya asks lawyers to look beyond the job description and notice the legal dimension in everything the business touches. That may mean spotting a disclosure issue before a transaction is announced, creating a better intellectual-property record or giving the company an early warning about a case before formal service arrives.
Technology can support this behaviour. She points to repositories, tracking tools, e-signatures and AI-assisted summaries as ways to reduce avoidable searching and improve visibility. The tool should give the team more time for analysis and discussion. It should not become a digital cupboard filled with documents nobody has named properly.
Managers can borrow several practices from her approach. Hold short matter reviews where the junior explains the issue first. Rotate ownership of updates. Let lawyers see why the business accepted or rejected their recommendation. Give credit in the room where the work is being discussed. When a mistake occurs, examine the process before searching for a person to blame.
Hiring should support the same design. Technical ability matters, but curiosity, accountability and the willingness to work across functions often predict how a person will grow. An interview can include a short business scenario with incomplete facts. The candidate's questions may reveal more than the final answer. Once hired, the person should receive context, a named reviewer and a first assignment that carries genuine ownership.
Culture is also revealed by language. Dropping honorifics will not repair a manager who interrupts every junior, and calling everyone "family" can become an excuse for poor boundaries. First names matter when they are accompanied by access, fair feedback and real responsibility.
Progress can be observed in ordinary signals: juniors speaking during business meetings, two people able to explain every major matter, and team members flagging problems before the deadline. Leave should not require a week of frantic handover. These signs show whether trust and shared knowledge exist. An annual engagement score is less persuasive than a department that keeps functioning when its leader is away.
I like Sandhya's insistence that mentoring is part of the GC's work rather than an optional kindness. A legal department succeeds when the business receives sound advice today and several lawyers become capable of giving it tomorrow. The door should be open, the standards visible and the knowledge spread across more than one laptop.