As Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Arizona’s largest Fortune 500 company, Erin Lewin (pictured right) leads the team that has helped make Avnet, Inc. a three-time World’s Most Ethical Company® honoree. In this interview with Ethisphere, she shares her tips and best practices around such key areas as leadership, strategy, effective communication and what it takes to be a successful GC in today’s business environment.
What qualities do you feel have helped make Avnet a World’s Most Ethical Company for three consecutive years?
EL: Three things come immediately to mind. First, a senior management team that actively supports and promotes our ethics and compliance objectives. As an example, five of our eight C-Suite executives are members of our Corporate Ethics and Compliance Committee, devoting their personal time and attention to advancing our efforts.
Second, a committed and passionate leader of our Ethics & Compliance Office; Harvey Woodford, has served as Avnet’s Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer for the last three years, and it is no coincidence that during the three years of his tenure Avnet has been named a World’s Most Ethical Company.
Third, a shared expectation among Avnet’s global employee population that Avnet does business the right way. In our most recent Global Employee Survey, 91 percent of our employees stated that Avnet conducts its business activities with honesty and integrity—well above Towers Watson’s global high-performing norm.
Prior to joining Avnet in 2007, you worked as Managing Director and Associate General Counsel at US Airways. What lessons did you take away from that role that have aided you in your current work?
EL: In-house practice at an airline whose operations run 24/7 and are highly visible to the public involves a lot of triage legal work: contain the current crisis and live to fight another day.
While there are far fewer crises in the technology distribution industry, the experience did teach me the importance of responding swiftly and comprehensively to any alleged legal issues, because you can’t always foresee which ones will develop into something significant.
What other elements of your background, both personal and professional, prepared you for this role?
EL: The GC role is far more about leadership than it is about personal delivery of legal services. Unfortunately, the legal profession is much more effective at training technical competence and analytical skills than developing leadership capabilities like interpersonal skills, communication and empathy.
My personal and professional experiences as a mother and a manager of people that challenged my exercise of these ‘softer’ competencies helped prepare me for this role.
You began your career in private practice with Fennemore Craig, P.C. What adjustments did you need to make in your transition to in-house legal work and what qualities or skills did you need to cultivate to be part of an ethics and compliance team?
EL: The move from private practice to in-house practice represented a sea change from depth to breadth. When I was in private practice, it was most important to my clients that I was a subject matter expert who could provide timely and pragmatic responses to technical questions about legal requirements.
In-house, my clients need me to understand the broader business context and practical ramifications of my counsel.
Providing technically correct, but impractical, legal advice would cause employees to discount the legal team and undermine our efforts to cultivate compliance.
Avnet is a vast global Fortune 500 company. What challenges do the organization’s geographic breadth and diversity pose?
EL: Due to Avnet’s global scale and our position at the heart of the technology supply chain, our two most significant enterprise legal risks are ensuring compliance with anti-corruption laws and trade compliance regulations. For the last several years, these two topics have been our top compliance priorities emerging from our biannual enterprise risk assessments.
You’ve been a General Counsel since 2009 in increasingly broader roles. How, if at all, do you find the role of GC has evolved since that time?
EL: I’m regularly struck by the dramatic increase in regulatory enforcement in recent years, and I’m confident I’m not alone in that experience, given the recent Association of Corporate Counsel Chief Legal Officers 2016 Survey showing that nearly one-third of global GCs report their companies have been targeted by a regulator in the last two years.
Today’s GCs have to be prepared for the possibility that they may be called upon to navigate their company through a complex regulatory investigation, potentially involving multiple jurisdictions and significant public attention.
How do you work with senior leadership and compliance personnel to engage employees in Avnet’s ethics policies and make staff aware of possible issues?
EL: I far prefer easily digestible communications with obvious relevance and easy application to employees’ individual job functions over widespread broadcast distribution of policy statements.
Use of real-life scenarios is a highly impactful vehicle for communicating compliance messages, as nothing seems to capture an employee audience’s attention more effectively than beginning with, ‘This really happened at Avnet…’
As GC, what part do you feel you play in fostering the company’s corporate culture?
EL: One of the GC’s primary functions and greatest value-adds is keeping compliance embedded into the business leadership’s mindset and everyday approach. We know we’re being successful when we see our business leaders independently stepping back from a potential sale because of red flags, or knowing the information they need to maintain confidentially and why without having to ask Legal for guidance.
What do you find most rewarding about being General Counsel?
EL: The opportunity to help impact Avnet’s broader business strategies, and the privilege of being part of a global legal team comprised of diverse, motivated, professional and engaging colleagues.
Is there any legislation or regulation you are keeping a close eye on these days?
EL: Like many US-based multinational companies, Avnet previously had relied upon our safe harbor certification to facilitate the transfer of personal data from the European Union.
Since the European Court of Justice invalidated the safe harbor framework in its October 2015 Schrems decision, we are closely monitoring the ongoing developments between the US and EU to reach a successor agreement.
What are your business and professional goals for 2016?
EL: For Avnet as an enterprise, our goals for 2016 include accelerating our performance in our industry’s high-growth areas of the 3rd Platform, Internet of Things and embedded technology.
As for me and the Avnet legal team, we are focused on fostering employee engagement, delivering exceptional customer service to our internal business clients, improving the efficiency of our department through process and technology and investing time and resources to support the business’ strategic growth areas.
What can you share with other General Counsel and compliance personnel in terms of tips and best practices—particularly those who may be aspiring to World’s Most Ethical Company status?
EL: Take advantage of the opportunities Ethisphere and others offer to benchmark your compliance program and get an objective, outside-in assessment of your areas of strength and potential gaps.
External validation not only informs your future deployment of resources, it also can provide important stakeholders, such as your Audit Committee or government regulators, with confidence that your focus is in the right place.
What do you do outside of the workplace for enjoyment?
EL: My husband and I are avid Arizona Cardinals fans; the months until pre-season begins seem very long right now. We also enjoy hiking in Sedona with our sons and trips to Napa Valley whenever we can find the time.
More About Erin Lewin
Erin Lewin is Senior Vice President & General Counsel of Avnet, Inc., one of the world’s largest global distributors of electronic components, computer products and embedded technology.
Ms. Lewin leads Avnet’s 100-plus-member global legal team and is a member of the Avnet Executive Board and a Corporate Officer. Previously, she served as Vice President and General Counsel, Americas, providing legal advice and counsel to Avnet’s businesses in the Americas. Prior to this role, she served as Avnet’s Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer for two years, overseeing all aspects of Avnet’s ethics and compliance program globally.
Before joining Avnet in 2007, Ms. Lewin was Managing Director and Associate General Counsel of US Airways. She began her career as an attorney at the Phoenix law firm Fennemore Craig, P.C. She received her Bachelor of Arts, with highest distinction, from University of Michigan and her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from University of Michigan Law School.
