Susana Guerrero joined Diageo in 2010, originally as regional counsel for Iberia, and has since expanded her responsibilities to include the company’s Global Customers division – in which she leads ‘legal support to the business in multijurisdictional relationships with international customers’ – and the Europe Commercial Transformation unit which ‘relates mainly to the development of [Diageo’s] commercial and route to market strategy in Europe’. Guerrero credits her experience in international and multi-jurisdictional roles as having given her ‘the opportunity to understand and adapt to different situations and complex problems, different cultures, diversity of styles and thinking’ which has been a major factor in her success.

As well as this, her executive experience with the company has given her a new angle on in-house work. ‘Today I see myself as a leader in the business first and lawyer second’, she explains. ‘I feel less of an advisor and more an enabler of the business’s strategy, with the ability to influence that strategy, help our business make the right decisions and make our performance sustainable in the long term’. As well as this, she believes that one of the most important characteristics for an in-house lawyer to achieve is credibility: ‘Credibility is built, in my opinion, from a number of different things: a deep understanding of the business, a solid legal background, a pragmatic approach towards risk and a huge focus on achieving business performance objectives and ensuring the company’s integrity and reputation. I think that if you manage to do this consistently and in a cost-effective way, you will be valued for the insights, focus and difference that you can make’.