For 30 years I practiced corporate law at Hughes & Hughes, where I was partner in charge of the Corporate and Mergers & Acquisitions department and Managing Partner. I advised multinational companies from multiple industries in international transactions. In every case, deal, transaction, acquisition, and tender, I learned about the business, the specific case, the legal situation, the objective and purpose, the people involved, their way of reasoning and working.
“The only woman to lead a full-service law firm in Uruguay, dealmaker Marcela Hughes combined her top-rate M&A practice with a humanist management style”.
Latin Lawyer Lifetime Achievement Award, 2018
In 2015, while still in the studio, I took a course on “Digital Acceleration” (Digital Transformation) that was mind-blowing and turned my head. I became passionate about the impact that technology and hyperconnectivity were having on work and life. VUCA world, exponential changes, dizzying pace, challenging conditions and unpredictable situations. It made me rethink the way I saw things and realize that either I was changing or I was lagging behind.
When I say change, I am referring to the legacy mindset with which I had been trained as a lawyer. I could not look to the future and plan strategies if I did not change that mental model for one suited to today’s world. But … if I was willing to look at the world, and my life, from a different perspective, I had to make a change myself first; otherwise, it would be difficult for me to achieve it.
On December 31 of 2017, I left the firm where I had worked for 30 years, providing corporate advice to multinational companies. I studied a lot about the impact of technology on work. Digital transformation does not refer to becoming technology experts, but to updating our strategic thinking. And in this disruptive, robotized world, contrary to what one may superficially think, people have greater prominence than ever. Leaders, collaborators, customers. The key word is: collaboration, with people and with technology.
I then decided to dedicate myself to helping people change their mindset to be able to design successful strategies, to outline or strengthen their culture, and above all, to look at things differently, with a different eye, from a different place, to make better decisions.
A legal education and the experience of so many years working in advising multinational companies so different, with different visions, objectives, from different industries, different people, different cultures gave me a deep knowledge of how the business world works and experience in identifying situations and solving problems. All this trained me to be an active listener, to ask questions, to have an open mind, to have creative thinking, to develop communication skills and to have a people-centered approach.
Working for companies, but with people has always fascinated me. Being able to put all that into helping people and companies think and decide in today’s complex world is the biggest and most rewarding challenge I could take on. I enjoy identifying different “dots” and connecting them in different ways that enable clients to discover new ways to identify and arrive at innovative solutions. Passion, curiosity, creativity, continuous learning, growth mindset and strategic thinking are the keys to move in today’s world.
In the combination of experiences, learning and technical, human and creative skills is the magic.
All Images c Marcela Hughes
All Images c Marcela Hughes