Pubco securities counsel - Our legal team was restructured 6 months ago, and now I report to our head corporate governance lawyer (who sits in Germany) rather than the Deputy Chief Legal (who is a U.S. M&A lawyer and knows a little SEC). No idea why they restructured the entire group, but it's nonsense. He has no idea what I do and doesn't know the first thing about SEC reporting. I'm the only SEC lawyer at the company, too, and his lack of knowledge impacts my performance reviews. Any advice?

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I’ve been in your boss’ seat and respectfully disagree with some of the above suggestions. Figure out how to support your new boss. I’d seriously consider doing a little research about German workplace culture.

The more senior you become, the less your manager knows about your space. This isn’t a bad thing, actually it can create space for you to take on more independence and grow faster than you would have. It’s just a new challenge that initially feels uncomfortable.

Consider yourself the host/guide to your area while respecting that they are probably running at a lot of other things. Use the next 6-12 months to systematically introduce them to your space, one topic at a time. Flag the watch-outs, give cautions to help them avoid stepping on grenades. Be an ally. Maybe it’s first an overview of your stakeholders and high level list of the different bodies of work you complete. Then, outline the annual cadence of your work, including the players, the dynamics, the positives and the challenges. Then, one topic at a time, introduce them to the top issues: what are the risks, what’s the status, who are the players and their perspectives? Come at things from a high level, not deep in the weeds. In doing this, you are demonstrating you have accepted and support their new role and you are showing your own mastery of your space. Do your very best to be objective, avoid overstating risks or issues. Part of what you are doing is establishing yourself as a trustworthy source. Introduce them to issues you knew will show up down the line. Investing now in creating that exposure “on a clear day” will save you later when the apace gets stormy.

You do you, but trying to make it about trumpeting your own successes could really backfire. I’d avoid it but that’s just me.

Good luck! You will be great, this is just a moment of change and discomfort, which will in fact pass.

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I’m a fan of “flood the zone” and initially overwhelming them with asks (confirming your plan, not creating a solution out of air) they have zero knowledge of. If they have half a brain they’ll learn to just let you be and not even try to micromanage.

Second item is you need to provide visibility to what you do and your wins. Keep it short and concise, draft it to be the sort of thing that can be copy/pasted straight into an evaluation.

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Having worked for a German company, this is pretty common. In my experience, they want as much to go through Germany as possible. I wouldn’t read too much into it.

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Was this particular structure forced upon your new manager and the deputy chief legal? Or is this something that they deliberated previously and decided on? Do you have a decent relationship with either, more importantly the deputy chief legal? Does the deputy chief legal report into the head corp gov lawyer or is he a parallel mgmt level role? Did you report into the deputy chief legal before this restructuring? If so and you know the head of corp gov and deputy chief legal haven't already discussed it before, it might make sense to bring up your concerns to your new manager (not framing as I like this manager over you or I don't like you as manager - but purely on subject matter/substantive grounds) and gauge whether his hands are tied by finance/hr or if there's some wiggle room to make this make more sense from your perspective. Easier said than done - definitely a delicate situation as you don't want to offend your new manager if you're stuck with him

Time to shop around

Maybe start by taking ownership of your review? If your new boss has different expectations than your old boss this is okay. You will need to adjust.

Maybe also educate him a bit and see where the misalignment is occurring.

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