Katerina Galanopoulou
LEGAL AND COMPLIANCE COUNSEL FOR GREECE,
CYPRUS, AND MALTA
SAP HELLAS
ATHENS, GREECE
6:20 am
The alarm goes off, and I tell myself not to check my emails. I wake my six-year-old daughter and we have milk and homemade cookies (from Grandma) for breakfast.
7:25 am
The school bus picks up my daughter.
7:30 am
I practice some yoga routines (as demonstrated at the SAP Legal Sprint Sessions).
7:40 am
I have some more coffee while watching the news.
9:05 am
I leave home and drive to the office.
9:15 am
At the office (yes, I live very close!), I check on my urgent emails. A major customer of our company needs some clarifications and guidance on the proper use of SAP software as per their contract. I call the account executive for a brief alignment and then I prepare an email to the customer.
9:52 am
I start working on my presentation for the Corporate Counsel Executive Training, to be hosted by Nomiki Vivliothiki under the auspices of ACC and the Greek Association of In-house Counsel. I am very excited about this training! As in-house counsel, we are so much more than lawyers, but usually do not fully understand this before we get such positions.
12:30 pm
Lunch at the office. Today they serve my favorite: chicken in tomato sauce with striftaria, a Greek pasta.
12:50 pm
I continue working on my presentation, focusing on effecting communication.
12:54 pm
Urgent call from the sales director. A big contract is currently being negotiated and the customer has some comments. A conference call is set up and the customer’s lawyer identifies the critical as well as the less significant issues that need to be resolved.
14:30 pm
The call ends. The customer is happy because we managed to successfully address their main concerns. I email the final version of the contract. They promise that they will sign it by the end of the day.
14:45 pm
I pause to pour some fresh water into my bamboo vase, and my eyes rest on the magnolia tree outside my second-floor window. I adore its flowers.
14:50 pm
I respond to a couple of emails that need my attention.
15:00 pm
I join the extended management meeting with sales, consulting, education, finance, and operations. In these meetings, I get important information on what is expected for the month, allowing me to better schedule my time and availability. They also constantly update me on the company’s priorities, the challenges, and the business strategy.
17:05 pm
The meeting ends. Still no update on the contract signature that we have been expecting.
17:10 pm
Back to my office to approve some contracts.
18:00 pm
I prepare the corporate documentation requested by banks and vendors in the frame of their compliance policies. These are not my favorite tasks, but someone needs to do them.
19.35 pm
I leave the office. My daughter is waiting for me to have dinner together (proper for her and light for me).
20:10 pm
I put my daughter to bed, and we read some pages from the book Around the World in Eighty Days.
20:35 pm
She is fast asleep. I drink a glass of wine and read a book that I didn’t manage to finish last August — Homo Deus by Y. Harari.
22:25 pm
Message from the sales director: “Contract signed!” (Yes!)
23:10 pm
Off to bed. I wish I had gone to sleep sooner, but at least I finished my book.
