Do you have a consigliere in your top management team?

In Blue Ocean Strategy the authors argue that it is important to include a consigliere in your top management team as well as executives with functional skills such as marketing, operations and finance.

Your consigliere (or general counsel) will not be as actively involved in the business as the Godfather's Tom Hagen , but should have a good understanding of the business, the ability to identify risks for your business and recommend (and argue objectively) a strategy to manage them.

It is dangerous to tack on general counsel, company secretary and compliance type work to a CFO position. If you can't afford a full-time general counsel, think about a part-time position or coming to an arrangement with your external lawyer.