Leading with authenticity in the legal profession has been saved
Podcast
Leading with authenticity in the legal profession
How humble leadership can cultivate resilience
Kermitt Brooks, chief legal officer at The Guardian Life Insurance of America, shares how practicing authenticity and humility has helped him become a more resilient leader. Inspired by his father’s legacy, see how Kermitt fosters an environment that allows teammates—and other leaders—to overcome setbacks through openness and honesty.
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Creating a supportive team
In this episode, Kermitt discusses how he has cultivated resilience within his team by leading with authenticity, openness, and humility. He also emphasizes the importance of in-house lawyers learning the business, shares why he has a passion for ethics and the insurance industry, and recounts how he was very intentional about the opportunities he pursued over the years.
One of the learnings I've had is when you have career setbacks, you don't overly internalize the bad news—that you take it as feedback, not necessarily failure, and then just move forward.
Transcript
Lori Lorenzo: Welcome to Resilient. I'm Lori Lorenzo, Deloitte Research & Insights director for our Chief Legal Officer Program, and host of the Resilient Chief Legal Officer track.
How do you inspire your team to overcome setbacks? In this episode, Kermitt Brooks, chief legal officer at The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, shares the leadership advice he’s collected from childhood experiences to executive positions, which have shaped his career in the regulatory and life insurance industries. Kermitt also discusses his intentional path to becoming a chief legal officer and how aspiring legal executives can evaluate a company for cultural and ethical fit.
Kermitt Brooks: One of the learnings I've had is when you have career setbacks, you don't overly internalize the bad news—that you take it as feedback, not necessarily failure, and then just move forward.
Lori Lorenzo: I hope you enjoyed this preview. For the full episode, go to your favorite podcast app and search Resilient. You can listen on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Amazon Music, Spotify, or wherever you go to get your podcasts. If you're curious about legal leadership and trends that are impacting today's in-house counsel, I encourage you to visit our Chief Legal Officer Program site on deloitte.com.
Until next time, remain resilient.
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How can you lead through crisis and disruption? Find out on Resilient, the podcast of authentic and engaging conversations with leaders who don't leave adversity where they found it. Launched in 2016, the series broke new ground by featuring interviews with those who embody resilience and went on to win the Gold-level AVA Digital Award and Gold-level MarCom Award.
Resilient leaders don’t take obstacles as the final answer, nor do they allow adversity to define them; hear their personal stories of resilience here. And for more in the series, visit the Resilient podcast library page.
Get in touch
Lori Lorenzo
Managing Director | Chief Legal Officer Program
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