7 minute read
AT THE TABLE
A Focus on Solutions, Strategy and Continuous Improvement
Kim Gerber, general counsel and corporate secretary at L’Oréal Travel Retail Americas, talks about the unpredictable path that brought her to the iconic French brand, why her grandfather was such an inspiration, and what traits she finds essential in her colleagues.
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CCBJ: What led you to join L’Oréal?
Kim Gerber: In hindsight, my move to L’Oréal was not a predictable one. Prior to joining L’Oréal, I worked for Ryder, one of the country’s largest third-party logistics providers. That was my first in-house job. I worked there for seven years, being promoted over time to successively larger and more complex roles. At the time that I was approached about the position at L’Oréal, I was general counsel for Ryder Supply Chain Division, and I had created a strong network and reputation throughout the company in North America. The position at L’Oréal was intriguing to me for a few reasons. First, I’m an American lawyer who was working for a quintessential American services company in their global headquarters. In contrast, the role at L’Oréal involved working for the Miami-based subsidiary of a French corporation – L’Oréal Travel Retail Americas – which sells products, not services. This change from domestic to international work, from a headquarters office to a satellite office, and from services to products, meant that there were innumerable opportunities to challenge myself and to grow.
I thought that this pivot would make for an interesting adventure. Further, before I joined any products company, it was really important to me as a consumer and as a mom to look for a values match on the issues that matter most to me. Those include commitments to sustainability and ethical sourcing, as well as diversity, equity and inclusion. As an in-house lawyer, it’s important for me to feel confident in the company’s mission and its products, in order to be able to work authentically and more powerfully every day. I was interested in the commitments that I saw L’Oréal making in these areas.
Please tell us about your leadership style and who or what has influenced it.
My maternal grandfather had the most significant influence on my leadership style. He wasn’t a lawyer, but he was impressive in many ways. He was a man who grew up dirt poor and prioritized his education to be become a college dean at one of the country’s largest universities. He was a veteran who served in World War II and married someone he viewed as his equal far before that kind of thing was ubiquitous. I aspire to have his patience and his ability to see the good in people. He used to ask me regularly if the way that I acted made me proud and if I had done my best.
He was an unrelenting supporter and a fair critic with high expectations. He brought out the best in those around him by believing in them, giving them the tools to succeed, and then holding them accountable. As a leader, I hope to do the same.
What qualities do you look for when you’re hiring new people for your team?
I want to work with a team that is committed to continuous improvement, willing to have tough conversations, is accountable for deliverables, and acts with unquestioned integrity. Subject matter expertise is important, of course, but that can be acquired. Whereas good judgment and business acumen need to be there from day one. An attorney must be smart but able to distill points into easily digestible pieces and provide actionable advice. To be honest, I don’t care how good a position is if it cannot be communicated clearly to get the buy-in of stakeholders.
When it comes to outside counsel, I want them to tell me what I don’t know. My true partners are those who take the time to understand our business and company culture, so that they can respond effectively in a way that matters to us and resonates with my leadership. Those who get and retain my business understand the unique challenges and needs of my clients and enable me to respond to them.
How would you describe the culture of your organization?
L’Oréal is a complex global organization with more than 85,000 employees and 36 well-known brands under its corporate umbrella. As a French company founded in the early 1900s, the company has a Parisian sense of artistry and creativity embedded in its DNA. Each L’Oréal entity around the world, including mine, operates with a clear personality that’s reflective of the global L’Oréal culture but also infused with the culture of the location where it’s based and the customers it serves. My teammates in Miami can be described as imaginative, entrepreneurial and ambitious. We have employees working here from all over the world, and engaging with disparate viewpoints is very much essential to our business model.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
When I moved from working at a law firm to working in-house, someone on the business team said to me, “I don’t want to hear problems. Bring me the solution to problems I didn’t know I had.” That stuck with me as an important take on the role of an in-house lawyer. Go ahead and issue-spot, yes, but take it a step further. I aim to be solutions-focused and strategic, understanding that the answer I give will not always be what the team wants to hear, but I am committed to finding a way to accomplish their goals even if we take a different route to get there. It’s important to build trust and confidence through collaboration, so that stakeholders bring you in early enough that you can guide the trajectory of the topic.
What changes would you like to see within the legal profession?
As a profession, we have a lot of room for improvement. The pandemic laid bare many of the issues that attorneys have faced for years without adequate resolution. Burnout, mental health and the pressure to be constantly on come to mind. During the pandemic, we have seen that new technology enables us to be at home and still fully connected and engaged, which can have its advantages at times, but it also obliterated any line that remained between work and home. Someone said to me recently, “We no longer work at home. We live at work.” At times, the weight of responsibilities can become intolerable. As a profession, we must demand greater support and balance in our lives. Many attorneys dropped out of the workforce over the past two years when the demands became unbearable, and it should never have come to that.
Further, I’m fortunate to be the head of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiative at my entity. That has given me an opportunity to look deeply into many of the issues we face as a company and more broadly at national and global statistics.
We see many women in the law but too few in meaningful authority positions on management committees and as general counsel. The same is true of other underrepresented groups. When a law firm does a pitch to me, I want to see their diversity statistics. Many are surprised to hear that I want to see this information and that I can consider it in staffing any project. Until we have true equality in the legal field, we need to use our buying power as in-house lawyers to put our thumb on the scale to require it. I believe we have devoted a lot of resources to removing the barriers to entry, which is important, but we have not yet figured out what to do with someone once they get in the door. How much are we mentoring, sponsoring and advocating to ensure that there is a pipeline of opportunities for those who come from different backgrounds or face different circumstances? It’s not enough to have diversity in a company or a law firm. We need diversity reflected at all levels, as well as the necessary infrastructure to enable people to succeed.
