“I feel as if I am on an island within my company. How can I get off it?”
An in-house government affairs executive asked this question at a recent conference. Her question isn’t unique – many of the professionals I work with express similar sentiments. Given the specialized nature of the role, it’s easy for companies to silo the GA function. It’s also easy for GA practitioners to accept a bit of isolation as a necessary downside of being in-house.
But nothing kills effectiveness, or professional enjoyment, more than isolation. Getting “off the island”, then, isn’t just a good idea – it’s essential. Thankfully, I have good news: it’s not hard to build a bridge to the mainland. You simply need to demystify, and then to ally. Let’s take a quick look at each.
Step One: Demystify
To many outside the profession, GA can seem to be a black box. Few really know what advocates do, let alone how they do it. In many cases, GA professionals themselves help perpetuate that aura of mystery. Justifiably proud of the specialized knowledge and skill they bring to their craft, many often enjoy working their magic without explaining the process.
But the admiration generated by that mystery comes with a cost. When your colleagues do not understand what you do, they are unlikely to involve you. Not because they do not want to, but because they do not know how.
The first step, then, is to open the black box. Be transparent and show your work. By helping your colleagues understand the process you use, you make it easier for them to see where GA fits into the broader business.
Step Two: Ally
“Nothing sustainable gets done in this company through one function acting alone.” I was fortunate to learn this lesson early in my career, and my company was not unique.
Functions do not add value in a vacuum. To add value, you need to create robust functional alliances within your enterprise. Building those alliances takes work. They are not going to be created without focused effort.
Who are GA’s natural allies? Legal is an obvious starting point, and in many organizations GA reports through the legal function. But legal is only part of the story.
In many ways, GA is a “storytelling function,” similar to marketing, investor relations, communications, and even human resources. Each of these functions is responsible for telling a story to a specific group of stakeholders. These functions need to be aligned.
Building that alignment requires intentional effort. It requires regular engagement, shared context, and a clear understanding of how GA contributes to business outcomes.
Finally, GA cannot add value unless the enterprise knows it can. The real estate function may not realize that GA can help secure incentives for an expansion project. R&D may not recognize that GA can support funding opportunities. Sales teams may not see how regulatory developments shape their markets.
Raising that awareness is one of the most important—and most difficult—parts of the job.
Closing Thoughts: Avoid the Dreaded GCI
As you begin to demystify and ally, avoid the temptation to go big. Instead, resolve to go small and build on incremental progress. All too often, I’ve seen GA leaders try to build their functions through GCIs — grand corporate initiatives. These well-intentioned plans look great on paper, and rarely get vocal pushback from operational leaders. But they also usually fail.
GCIs fail simply because their benefits are too abstract. No matter how well-designed, abstract operational initiatives rarely become operational priorities. It’s predictable and understandable: operations leaders hear the words “corporate initiative”, nod politely and stay focused on making and shipping products.
When those leaders see actual wins, regardless of size, the game changes. GA becomes a priority not because the functional leader wants it to, but because its benefits are tangible. Once small wins start the flywheel going, bigger wins will surely follow.