PURPOSE
Through The GC Circle, members connect to share insights and experiences, discuss common challenges, and help each other in a multitude of ways.
The GC Circle is a vibrant community of international chief legal officers.
MEMBERS
Current members include the Heads of Legal of Ageas, Allegion, Bekaert, BMT International, Donaldson, Etex, Euroclear, Engie, Ideal Standard, Puratos, Schréder, Sibelco, Stonehaven Consulting AG, Swift, UCB, and Umicore. The GC Circle was founded in 2023 and keeps expanding.
The criteria for admission of new members are the following:
- Top-level legal function (General Counsel or equivalent);
- International scope of responsibilities;
- Supervisory authority over the legal team;
- Ability to physically attend the meetings in Belgium;
- Good fit with existing members.
ACTIVITIES
We have five half-day in-presence meetings per year, plus a summer garden party for socialising and fun. Meetings include conversations among members, discussions with top-notch guest speakers of matters of strategic importance, and presentations by the members of their company and legal department.
Meetings are organised at the members’ corporate office on a rotating basis or are hosted by law firms.
In addition to in-presence, one-hour webinars are organised from time to time to address a particular topic with a guest speaker.
STAY CONNECTED
Between meetings, members keep in touch through a WhatsApp group and direct contact amongst themselves at their best convenience.
Members’ feedback is unanimously positive: They talk about “great meetings”, “the magic of our exchanges”, “rich sessions”, and “interesting topics”.
The following values describe the spirit of the GC Circle.
Pragmatism and inspiration
Through our conversations and interactions, we aim to provide each other with useful, practical takeaways to help us deal with the challenges we are facing as GCs. We also aim to share inspiring ideas and new perspectives.
Mutual understanding and support
We enjoy being around people who understand at once our context and issues because they are experiencing the same. For the same reason, we can inspire and help out each other. We seek ways to be useful to each other and to make our community as resourceful as possible.
Trust
We feel we can share safely about the issues we are dealing with, without being judged by others. We feel safe to share our vulnerabilities and the challenges we and our organisations are facing. We trust that all members will respect the confidentiality of what we are sharing.
Mutual appreciation
We realize that through our interactions on work-related issues, we are also creating camaraderie and friendships among us. We honour these amicable feelings. We respect, appreciate and care for each other.
Commitment
We recognize that we all have a responsibility to make our community successful. We show our commitment by attending meetings as often as we can, volunteering to prepare sessions, hosting events, participating in conversations, and helping to recruit new members.
ANNUAL FEE
The annual fee for The GC Circle membership is 2.500 € per year excl. VAT.
INTERESTED?
Please contact Antoine Henry de Frahan, Chair of the GC Circle, at ahdf@frahan.com or by phone at +32 476.20.15.64.