As General Counsel and a member of the executive committee at Haleon, a global leader in consumer health, Bjarne Philip Tellmann’s deep listing, corporate finance and M&A experience have made him a sought-after legal adviser and business leader. We spoke with Bjarne about how his time at S&C set him up for success in a career that has spanned the globe.
The most useful skill I still leverage is storytelling because our brains are wired to tell stories. You can give someone all of the facts, but sometimes they just go in one ear and out the other. If you tell a story about the facts, that can be very powerful. In the in-house environment, you are trying to instill a culture of compliance and convey complex legal analyses in a language that is easily understood by a layperson or someone who may have other pressing matters on their plate. These are helpful skills in negotiations as well because storytelling forces you to think about the emotional and cultural context of the conversation you are having.
While each of those roles presented very different sets of circumstances, both geographically and legally, there have been two common challenges throughout my time in these roles. The first is, how do you navigate those grey areas? What I mean by that is, while at a firm, you think that what you delivered to the company is the end product, but it is not. It is actually closer to the final mile of the supply chain, which is often the most challenging part of the journey. That “last mile” of legal advice needs to be married with the risk appetite of the company and its objectives. The company has to determine what is an appropriate level of risk to take on to achieve its goals, which a firm cannot do in quite the same way.
The second challenge is that organizing a legal department that can deliver services effectively is becoming ever more complicated in terms of process optimization, technology, talent, culture, mission, purpose, cost, and evaluating external partners, etc. There are so many elements that go into creating a well-functioning legal department—it is almost like running a business within a business. It is a fascinating part of the job which develops skills that can translate to any industry.
My team was involved in that initiative, and there were many issues we had to consider. It was a rewarding task that allowed us to help Haleon fulfil its purpose, which is to provide better everyday health with humanity. Being able to read labels is a critical point of access for many people and the tool allows them to do that more easily.
I think AI is the defining question of our age. I am a member of The Futures Group, a council that advises the U.K. government on the future of technology in the U.K. legal space and, in particular, its relation to civil justice. I think AI will be transformative over the next 10 years—in terms of profound productivity changes that will enable us to focus on higher-value activity. But there are also concerning elements such as digesting and summarizing documents; is the technology analyzing and focusing on the correct parts? We also have to be sure that we don’t atrophy certain analytical skills that are very important for lawyers. But beyond these elements, there is tremendous potential.
I love leading teams of people and working with brilliant colleagues. I look at it as being very similar to that of a coach of a professional sports team. If you are the coach of Manchester United, you are not on the field all the time, but you assemble the team, the strategy and, most importantly, provide the motivation. Being a part of developing a strategy and being co-accountable for the performance and achievements of a large company is incredibly rewarding.
And I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge my love of operating the aforementioned “business within a business.” I enjoy that part of the work more than anything else—how do you optimize and run an effective in-house team; what does a healthy business look like; how do you measure it; and how do you keep evolving?
Being an associate at S&C was a great opportunity to refine my attention to detail, as well as stamina, grit and the willingness to put in the hours needed to go above and beyond for clients. I learned so much from the leaders of the Firm at the time. George White, then-partner and now Senior Counsel, was a memorable mentor who led with integrity and a spirit of inspiration. George is a natural teacher and I thrived under his tutelage.
When I reflect on those years at S&C, it was akin to finishing school. I saw firsthand that perfection is a prerequisite for excellent legal output. I was based in Frankfurt and learned a lot watching that office scale and grow. I still remember being amazed at S&C’s unbelievable network around the world, collaborating and working across client groups and geographies to reach a resolution. I have always tried to emulate that with my legal teams, and I still hold S&C up as the gold standard in that regard.
The first thing I would say is, there is no template. If you tried to reverse-engineer anyone’s journey, it would be impossible to do. That said, there are things you can do to set your course. As a baseline, I recommend staying in a law firm for at least three to five years in order to develop the skills needed to enter a company at a level of seniority that will afford you the opportunities needed to continue your growth.
Speaking from my own experience, another source of opportunity will be your clients. I got my first in-house job with Kimberly Clark through a recruiter. Within a year of being there, I was approached by former client Coca-Cola and began a 13-year journey that took me around the world. Your clients can be your best source of recruitment, so always do your best to build relationships. Don’t just hand out your business card; make an effort to ask questions, learn about them and their business. Be curious and seek to learn. You would be surprised how much these efforts to understand a client, or their business may come back to you.
Most importantly, I urge you not to forget this: your career, much like your life, is an adventure. Be open to new opportunities. Throughout my career, I have lived in London, Vienna, Athens, Tokyo, Atlanta, New York, Frankfurt, Stockholm and Helsinki, and now I am back in London. Not every location was one that my family and I thought we would be overly excited about, but each one turned out amazing and created the opportunity for the next.
There is an element of risk to most decisions, but you have to be a bit of an entrepreneur and take those risks to reach your goals.