Candice Ciresi serves as the Chief Compliance Officer and Associate General Counsel at Pipedrive, a customer relationship management (CRM) software company established in 2010 with approximately 850 employees. In her role, Candice assumes the responsibility of furnishing leadership with insights into the corporate risk landscape as well as equipping the business with the tools to effectively navigate these risks.
Candice’s expertise in identifying vulnerabilities within organizations facilitates informed and strategic decision-making. By possessing a keen understanding of potential pitfalls and obstacles, businesses can accelerate their progress to market, making their operations more efficient and effective. Candice’s role underscores the significance of compliance and risk management in today’s corporate landscape, ensuring the organization operates in a manner that mitigates potential challenges and maximizes opportunities for growth.
Below are highlights of the interview:
Could you describe your role as the Chief Compliance Officer/Associate General Counsel at Pipedrive?
My goal at any company is to create order out of chaos at the speed of business and in a way that elevates the overall team. Anyone can throw out solutions, but there is a special skill set in collaborating with the corporate experts to develop meaningful solutions that adapt to the business without disrupting operations.
How do you collaborate with other departments and teams within the organization?
My recommendation on collaboration is that discussions within departments must span across levels. Too often, leaders and lower-ranked employees have different experiences with actual operations. Connecting with a variety of levels within a department allows for visibility into vulnerabilities within that department. Once this insight is achieved, solutions not only benefit the company as a whole but also prove beneficial for the department itself.
By not only cross-functionally but through-functionally connecting with the business, you give a voice to those who contribute to the overall process. This meaningful voice acts like a rising tide, elevating all ships. Most of the companies with whom I worked saw a noted improvement in sales/sourcing turn-around time, reduced labor costs, a reduction in legal actions, and improved compliance when varying levels of the organization contributed to identifying and resolving issues.
How do you ensure that legal operations run smoothly at Pipedrive?
Clarity in roles is critical. Where there are several people on a legal team, the business can easily be confused as to who is the subject matter expert. For the teams with whom I work, I name the attorney with the most experience in a specific area as the primary point of contact. Once all the attorneys are designated as primary for the issues common to that organization, I then name a secondary. Secondary contacts are copied on relevant communications to have visibility into how the primary responds. Each year, the secondary attorney on any given topic rotates. The goal is that everyone on the legal team gets experience in those matters common to the Chief Legal Officer. Within three years, most lawyers should be able to smoothly transition upward without the shadow of imposter syndrome looming over them. The ultimate goal is to empower my reports to be able to work anywhere at a higher level, but make them love the environment so much they don’t want to leave.
Are there any specific strategies or tools you utilize to streamline legal processes?
The most effective tool to streamline processes is utilizing the company’s existing tools to their full potential. A high percentage of tools resting within organizations are grossly underutilized. Adding a new tool to a company can cause slowdowns in re-education and often result in yet another underutilized tool in a technology toolkit. Evaluating new uses for existing technology offers a speedy solution.
How do you stay up to date with changes in the legal landscape that may impact Pipedrive?
Continuing legal education is critical. Numerous options are available for constantly evolving topics such as AI and standard, foundational requirements such as anti-corruption. I also participate in a Women GC Network Event, which allows for collaboration between in-house and external counsel on addressing risks in the corporate setting.
How do you continue to grow and develop professionally in the legal field?
Networking, education, and feedback.
Networking not only allows you to identify experts in areas important to your industry, but it also allows you to bridge gaps with others. Listening to what people need and exploring what people have to offer allows you to facilitate meaningful connections within and outside of an organization.
Education allows you to better understand and anticipate the needs of a company. It is creating self-worth that further creates value. Of course, more important than simple education is being able to properly apply that education to real-world scenarios. Knowledge is cheap; wisdom is priceless.
The quest for honest feedback seems to fade for many people when they hit a leadership role. It becomes far too easy to mistakenly attribute success to oneself versus all the other people who contributed to that success. Don’t stop asking for constructive criticism, and don’t ever think that someone is too low to identify your blind spots.
What advice do you have for aspiring legal professionals, especially those interested in technology or SaaS companies?
Stay educated, hungry, and humble.
Learn the technology so that you can better communicate, critique, and strategize. Learn about the stakeholders within the company. Get to know who does what and how they do it, generally. No one can know everything, but you can know people who know a lot. I am amazed at how much everyone with whom I work knows about a variety of topics. When in doubt, I know to whom I can turn to strategize or work through issues. I am successful because I stand on the shoulders of giants.
Be hungry. If you find yourself too comfortable, up your game. One of my favorite recommendations for someone who feels malaise in their work is to spend a few hours with customer support. If you are in customer support, spend a few hours in product. Your perception of how things run—even your own contributions—can change when you interact from a different position.
Stay humble. Nothing kills innovation faster than one person believing they are the smartest in the room. Make room for the ingenuity and ideas of others. At this point, make room for failure. I once had an employee tell me that he would never let me down. I quickly corrected that statement because people cannot thrive with the mental limitations of perfection. He would let me down. He would make mistakes, and that’s okay. Don’t ask for perfection from anyone. Ask that they do their best. This grace also returns to you when you mess up, and you will, and that’s okay.
Please Visit: https://www.pipedrive.com/
