In this blog, we explore the nuances of leadership in the legal sector with Caroline Skinner, General Counsel for G4S Europe and the Middle East. Caroline reflects on her time in the Middle East and how she learned to be effective as General Counsel at G4S there.
Caroline was the first in the organization to be appointed General Counsel in the Middle East, an autonomous region. She is accustomed to taking on challenges and embraced this one with both hands. The years she spent in this region were marked by major cultural differences, but also by the need for systemic change that allowed her to move freely without guidance. She casually mentions driving past a Molotov cocktail, how she became accustomed to the sound of gunshots, and dealing with earthquakes and sandstorms. She was even escorted home by local police who were taking precautions after a business meeting, as it took place on the route of an anti-Western protest march (after cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed had appeared in Dutch newspapers earlier that week). For Caroline, these high-risk situations were simply part of the job. As both a lawyer and general counsel, she had to adapt to her environment in both large and small ways to be effective in her role.
Learning to adapt to the culture
Caroline discovered that there were many differences between business meetings in the Middle East and Europe. In the Middle East, she often relied on a clear agenda when attending a meeting. But she soon learned that she had to be patient and accept that meetings could last much longer than planned. “You could talk for hours about the weather, football, or local business news, because taking time to build relationships is an essential part of the corporate culture,” Caroline explains. “And indeed, after a while, this became an enjoyable part of meetings, leading to long-lasting relationships.” “A downside, however, was that the people you were in the room with would sometimes stand up after discussing general matters for a while and say: ‘We don’t want to do business today.’ At such a moment, you have to respect that decision.” G4S had never worked with a general counsel specifically for the Middle East before, meaning Caroline had no one to learn from. She had to adapt to the cultural norms the moment she encountered them. She found the hardest part to be how to talk to men. “I had to recondition myself,” she says. “In some cultures, it was insulting for a woman to talk to a man about business and to expect to be seen as an equal, as someone who could be negotiated with.” During Ramadan, it is not permitted for an Arab man to touch a woman other than his wife, so I could not shake a man’s hand during that time (and some religions would not allow a man to shake a woman’s hand at all, which could sometimes make for an awkward start to meetings, until Caroline learned to only shake hands if one was offered to her). “And if you are dressed inappropriately according to local standards, which can be as simple as a dress above the ankles or bare arms, you are indecent to them and they will not take you seriously.” Caroline also speaks with great warmth about the time she spent in the Middle East. She often felt very welcome among local shareholders, local lawyers, and at business meetings.
Adapting to a restrictive environment
According to Caroline, all credit goes to her Danish boss for placing a woman in this role. The responsibility for blazing new trails rested on her shoulders. However, she sometimes wished she had taken cultural awareness training before starting the position. It was a challenge to avoid a faux pas in a culture so different from her own. She had to be particularly careful and change her usual business negotiation style, as it was culturally unusual for a woman to challenge a man’s statements. “There was a lawyer who grabbed a chair and slammed it against a wall because I dared to ask him questions during a meeting about something that was clearly incorrect,” Caroline recounts. “When I became aware of legal errors or errors in facts presented by the opposing party, I often had to avoid directly challenging them. I had to teach myself to take a step back and carefully address the inaccuracies in a different way.” Sometimes, the way women were viewed could feel stifling. Caroline recalls her first visit to Saudi Arabia, during which she took a young male legal counsel with her. As they went through immigration, her passport was taken and given to her colleague. She was told that he had to keep her passport with him and accompany her wherever she went. “At that time, I couldn’t be alone without a male escort,” she explains. “I couldn’t get into a taxi or go anywhere by myself. I remember going to a meeting about an important court case, just outside Jeddah. The director, a Saudi national, took me there. I had to sit in the back, covered in an abaya and headscarf. I remember his warning that ‘if you are caught by the local police in a car with me, you will be arrested for prostitution.’”
How far the Saudis – and Caroline – have come
Caroline indicates that the limited freedoms Saudi women have been granted since she first arrived there are significant. “I realized this a few years ago when I walked downstairs without hesitation to meet my driver, without an escort,” Caroline recounts. “I had my passport in my own bag and a friend sent me a text message saying ‘Happy International Women’s Day’.” It was a very moving moment, as women had just gained the legal right to drive themselves for the first time. Moreover, she was on her way to a meeting with a local shareholder whose representative warmly welcomed her as the first woman ever to attend a board or shareholders’ meeting in his vast corporation. “I celebrated the visible progress,” Caroline says. “To experience such a change during my years in Saudi Arabia was absolutely incredible. Elsewhere in the Middle East, she began to understand more about clothing styles, behavior, and how upbringing and culture have a profound influence on how people feel. “I remember returning to the UK and seeing a couple hugging and openly kissing in a swimming pool. I was shocked, because I had become accustomed to different norms where members of the opposite sex covered themselves in public and didn’t touch each other,” she recalls. “And I realized how important it is that we are all more culturally sensitive.”
Change can begin with changing one person’s perception
Looking back on the other reforms she has seen, Caroline is particularly pleased with the changes she implemented to adapt to doing business in Asia and the Middle East. Additionally, she is proud of the turnaround that took place with one person. A Saudi lawyer was initially very skeptical of Caroline. “He wasn’t directly rude,” Caroline explains. “But it was clear that he absolutely hated my presence and my guidance. To him, it was clear that no woman should have been present at all. He was a proud Saudi man, and I was an obstacle to his masculinity.” It took a number of years, but thanks to Caroline, he has done a 360-degree turn. “Now he is one of my biggest stars,” she says. “Even though I am back in the United Kingdom and have placed a man between us for daily contact, he still usually comes straight to me.”
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