A good general counsel (GC) relays their unique perspective to help resolve business issues and propel a company forward. In working toward this goal, however, many lawyers run into the same roadblock—themselves.

Legal training tends to focus on ways to avoid risk (some real, some theoretical) and attempts to instill a sense of responsibility to protect our clients (or bosses) from negative consequences of taking uncertain decisions by preventing them from making those decisions in the first place. Some GCs tend to have tunnel vision, only seeing the worst-case scenario and working to avoid even a single step in that direction at all costs. In all reality, there’s a lot of room between taking a risk and the worst-case scenario actually coming to fruition, with many poor decisions required before the worst outcome materializes. Taking decisions and managing to planned outcomes is a valuable part of what we should be offering as legal experts. When we do anything less, we’ve failed as professionals.