"People must always be your focus. Without good people, we have nothing."
Tautoko! We agree! This insight from Sam Jack in his Spotlight response struck a chord with us at Juno.
One of our core values is 100% Human, and we’re always reflecting on how that is demonstrated rather than simply talked about.
So, we turned to our modern-day watercooler (AKA Teams) and asked the Juno Hive Mind for their thoughts.
As lawyers who work across multiple in-house teams, we see firsthand the different ways legal teams operate, connect, and support their people. We asked the hive mind two key questions:
- What’s one thing you’ve seen legal teams do that really supports their people?
- What’s one practical way in-house legal teams can create an environment where people thrive?
Here’s what our team had to say:
Practical insights to putting people first
Support and connection matter - When people feel connected and supported, they’re more engaged, resilient, and motivated.
Jeremy Ford
"One of the most effective ways legal teams can support their people is by setting up mentoring arrangements. In larger teams, each senior lawyer can meet 1:1 with a more junior lawyer to help develop them. This could be just work-task related, or a wider mentoring role.
"Another key way to support legal teams is to get the team connected! This could be a morning stand-up, the quiz, team coffees, planning days, training."
Jen Hanton
"A great way legal teams can show support is by sending care packages when someone is unwell or has had a family upheaval where they can't get into the office. Celebrate their successes by calling out their achievements in team meetings and in company wide huddles or town halls.
"Another practical way to create an environment where legal teams thrive is by embedding lawyers in the business. Ask each relevant Business Unit (BU) to fold the lawyer into their team with invites to BU team meetings. Then rotate around the lawyers so that they get the chance to support various BUs (and not get stuck with the same ones) and perhaps even transition to that BU for a time to build skills other than legal ones."
Trust and empowerment make the difference - When leaders empower their people by giving them the space to make decisions, grow, and take ownership, it fosters trust, confidence and engagement.
Jacki Houtwipper
"Once you’ve hired good people, give them the space to grow and shine. A great leader I once had used to say he’d give us ‘enough room to soar without messing it up.’
"It's like they're a kite
- Give them enough slack to fly high and explore their potential.
- Tell them you trust them to navigate challenges on their own—it builds their confidence and their accountability.
- Check in now and then to make sure they’re not caught in a storm (or a tree!), and be ready to step in when needed.
"A practical way to support legal teams is to speak out loud. Talk through the thinking process you are going through on a piece of advice and the mistakes/pivots you’ve made. That gives modelling and helps get you on the same page. Be open to and invite active participation and testing of the thinking."
"To really support their people, legal teams need to focus on empowerment—giving people trust, responsibility, and opportunities to lead.
"Practical ways teams can create a positive environment are treating each team member and their ideas with respect, and giving people autonomy while also ensuring they feel a valued member of the team."
Mary Gordon
"Many of the soft skills that make a good lawyer/adviser for clients apply to teams. So be present for them, reliable, professional, communicate well and remember you're a role model. Be kind, fair and clear. Expect the best 👌"
Investing in growth keeps people engaged - Good people don’t just appear, they develop.
Caroline Tate
"My view with lawyers was to think of them as little coal ships. You need to keep feeding the furnace with coal, i.e look for new opportunities for lawyers before they realise they want/need them, because you want them to keep growing in the role and as people. I've found it a successful approach."
Carina Barnett
"Some of the ways I've seen and experienced supportive teams are:
"Team collaboration – Creating an environment where the team is actively available to each other to sense check and collaborate, particularly as tricky matters have different perspectives. You know you’re not on your own.
"Valuing your opinion – When your GC is working through an issue and asks “What do you think?” and then values, trusts and backs your response.
"Create opportunities to immerse the team in the business – I was given the opportunity to travel to experience being in the market I supported. It was invaluable to see the operational side, be exposed to the frontline and gain more perspective on the business drivers. There are always opportunities to immerse yourself closer to home, by enabling and encouraging time to be spent with different teams in the business."
Key takeaways: How to keep people your focus
✔ Support and connect your people—Encourage mentoring, embed lawyers in the business, and celebrate achievements.
✔ Foster trust and autonomy—Give people space to grow, check in regularly, and lead by example.
✔ Create development opportunities—Keep the work engaging, encourage collaboration, and provide exposure to the broader business.
Because at the heart of every great team, organisation, and business decision is the fact that "without good people, we have nothing."
Ngā mihi nunui to the Juno Hive mind for sharing their thoughts. We're fortunate to learn from such a range of experiences.
👉 Want to read more?
Juno hosted a series of in-person events exploring the topic of Building Team Culture recently, so if you'd like to explore more insights on putting people first, check out the key takeaways from those Juno Learning events on Building Team Culture here.
And if you have any other questions or topics you'd like to put to the Juno Hive Mind, we'd love to hear from you. Get in touch with [email protected].