Legally On the Move: Careers, Tech & Insights from Dubai – Sabrine Makkes – E12

You can hear Rob and Sabrine discussing:

– Sabrine’s Views on Ethical Leadership and Compliance

– Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Beyond Buzzwords

– Mentoring Initiatives for Women and the Launch of Women In Mentoring

– Innovation in Legal Training Through Gamification

– AI and Ethics in Legal Innovation

Connect with Sabrine here – https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabrine-m-16a9578/

Women in Mentoring – https://www.linkedin.com/company/women-in-mentoring-wim/

Transcript

00:00

Welcome to legally on the move careers tech and insights from Dubai in this exclusive mini-series of the legally speaking podcast we’re taking you to the heart of Dubai a global hub for legal innovation cutting-edge technology and transformative career opportunities here’s what you’ll gain career inspiration unlock the secrets to thriving in Dubai’s dynamic legal market tech trends dive into how AI blockchain and legal tech are reshaping the industry diversity and leadership here from trailblazersis driving inclusivity and innovation in the UAE and Global Perspectives explore how Dubai’s unique blend of tradition and ambition is creating a thriving legal ecosystem.

00:40

Recorded in iconic locations, these episodes bring you the energy and insights of one of the world’s most exciting legal hubs.

00:48

Don’t just listen, experience the future of law.

00:50

Ready to move forward with us?

00:52

Let’s go.

00:53

So, welcome to Legally Speaking podcast, Name, Title and Organisation.

00:59

My name is Sabrine Makkes, multiple hats.

01:02

So, I’m a lawyer by background education, I’ve been in private practice for seven years, moved in-house for the next 11, 12 years, been head of legal and compliance, tech companies, automotive, founder of Women in Mentoring, board member in a compliance organisation,Executive coach.

01:22

What else?

01:24

There’s a lot there.

01:25

Let’s start to try and I guess pick some of your wisdom off then.

01:29

So let’s start with the legal professional perspective.

01:31

How can legal professionals in the UAE better foster ethical corporate cultures while navigating compliance challenges in such a dynamic region?

01:40

What a great question.

01:42

It’s so deep.

01:44

It’s really touching on so many things I love.

01:47

And first of all, it’s the human touch.

01:50

To start with, you just need the tone from the top, but then you need the tone from the middle, and then you need to have the right mindset.

01:58

You cannot work on a compliant organization just out of the blue.

02:02

You need to have your processes, you need to have your policies, but more importantly, you need to have your leadership.

02:09

fully on board with you so it’s the idea that you cannot change you know change is not just for one moment it’s a journey it’s not a destination so starting off from the top to down but keeping in mind that the middle is very very important and then the mindset and you think of your onboarding your new employees and everyone you bring into the organization Yeah really good work well said and I guess something else that you are doing a lot of great work in is within the D&I space as wellAs a DE&I advocate, what tangible steps can companies take in the UAE to embed inclusivity into their workplace cultures?

02:49

Inclusivity is not a tagline.

02:51

It’s not an award.

02:52

You know, I’ve got an award for being the DEI ambassador, but what I’m doing is really role modelling because actions is really what counts.

03:01

It’s not just, you know, what you’re preaching as an organisation, it’s what you’re doing.

03:05

And, you know, diversity starts with your hiring.

03:09

Look atpolicies, is there any biases in your policies?

03:12

Look at the way you recruit people, look at the way you onboard people, look how you promote.

03:17

Promotions are key.

03:18

It’s not just, you know, let’s bring in ladies, let’s bring in this, you know, this category or that category.

03:23

Look literally at the ad value from hiring and how diversity and inclusion is embedded throughout the way from hiring up to promotion and all the way down to basically leaving the company or retiring.

03:36

And the pay gap, pay gap is very important.

03:39

Because as you know, I’m speaking for my colleagues, ladies in legal and compliance, we see a lot of differences in wages and the pay gap is something that companies need really to look into.

03:51

Yeah, well said.

03:52

And again, that’s something we fully support here on the Legally Speaking podcast.

03:56

And I guess that leads nicely onto the wider work that you’re doing in women in mentoring.

04:00

So tell us more about it.

04:02

What are you getting up to?

04:03

Oh, women in mentoring.

04:04

Actually, the idea was there since five years, but it just saw the light a couple of months ago.

04:10

I’ve been mentoring at Middlesex University Dubai for the past four years.

04:14

I’ve been mentoring one international organization called Manara for almost four or five years.

04:20

So mentoring was there, you know, within my everyday work.

04:24

But in December, the idea popped as in why notbringing the community, the female law students and compliance students, bring them together, connect with ladies, more senior, even, you know, junior ladies, so that we can have this inclusive, diverse community while keeping, you know, in mind that we need to instill values.

04:46

So my community started really with less than 10, maybe 15 members and thenexponentially grew to 300 members today.

04:56

So today, you know, that’s a very good day because we are 300 today.

05:00

Well, congratulations.

05:01

It’s only going to continue to grow with the energy and purpose that you put behind everything that you do.

05:06

Let’s talk about some of the lessons then.

05:08

What lessons from your executive coaching career have you found most impactful in driving leadership transformation, particularly within legal teams?

05:16

Well, that’s a deep question.

05:18

So, self-awareness.

05:19

I would say self-awareness is key for you to know who you are, your weaknesses, what you can give and embrace your vulnerabilities.

05:28

Be authentic to yourself, you know, authenticity, self-awareness, pausing.

05:33

Pausing is very important for you to reflect.

05:37

and to know your end goal and to focus on the purpose rather than the numbers although I was happy to get up to 300 members but it’s a responsibility so responsibility accountability come with self-awareness and motivation so I think you know these are the key you know lessons learned from my coaching experience yeah really well said and just to that point on pause you know there’s real power in the pause as well isn’t there and I think you know I advocate for that strongly okay how has your entrepreneurial journeyUAE shaped your views on innovation and inclusivity within the legal profession?

06:11

Well, my entrepreneurship journey started almost during COVID, so that was a pause moment.

06:20

from someone who’s been hitting the glass ceiling as a legal and compliance director at some point in time, I was asking myself, how can I make a difference?

06:30

And those trainings I was delivering were not really my cup of tea.

06:34

I was not really happy with the way trainings were delivered.

06:38

So I started thinking, why not using gamification of trainings?

06:41

And I started posting on LinkedIn, everyone thought I’m crazy.

06:44

And you know, when the metaverse hype started, I was embracing the metaverse.

06:48

So tech is literally what youcall for, it’s a calling, and it’s an implementation, plus it’s the way you bring value to employees in the company and clients as well.

06:59

And I was lucky enough to meet with a very nice chap who helped me recreate crime scenes for American law firms.

07:07

And we presented this to juries, and we won cases.

07:10

I’m like, I’m speaking we, as in I was part of the journey.

07:14

So innovation, we are in a country that really promotes and helps and supports innovation.

07:20

We haveall the opportunities here to grow, but then it comes as well with responsibility.

07:25

So now you see AI.

07:27

AI needs to come with ethics, the ethics of AI.

07:29

You see all the growth opportunities.

07:32

So you need once again those skills we were just discussing to implement with a growth mindset.

07:39

So everything should come together to be where you want to be.

07:42

Yeah, I’m really well said and really well put and I’m so pleased that we’ve managed to make this happen live in Dubai, in the West End, we’ve finally done it.

07:50

So ifwant to know more about you or indeed Women in Mentoring, where can they get in touch?

07:55

Feel free to share any websites, any social media handles.

07:57

Absolutely, and thank you Rob.

07:58

We are on LinkedIn as it is, Women in Mentoring.

08:01

My name is Sabrine Mackes.

08:03

Please reach out to me on LinkedIn as well.

08:05

Same name, Rob probably can share the LinkedIn profile.

08:09

And then of course my company, Envision Consulting, where all the magic starts and finishes.

08:14

There we go.

08:14

Thank you very much.

08:15

Well, thank you.

08:16

It’s been an absolute blast having you on the Legal Screen Podcast from all of us here in Dubai over and out.

08:20

Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of our Legally on the Move from Dubai series.

08:26

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08:32

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08:33

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08:45

Stay tuned, we’ll see you again soon.

08:47

Over and out.