The Hot 100 career quiz: National Trust GC Jan Lasik

What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee?

My first visit to the Kremlin in Moscow during my trainee secondment to Allen & Overy’s Moscow office. I spent six months doing a trainee secondment in Russia, extending my time there as a qualified associate working in the firm’s capital markets/banking practice, before eventually returning to Allen & Overy’s London office.

For someone who’d spent a large part of their university degree (I read Modern History and Politics, before converting to law) studying Cold War international relations, considering Marxist political theory and writing essays on imperial Russia, it was wonderful to be able to explore the country and its capital. I made some lifelong friends during my time in Russia – the country, its culture, history and people continue to fascinate me.

What is the thing in your professional career that has terrified you or taken you out of your comfort zone the most?

Being part of the National Trust’s Executive Team in 2020 when, instead of celebrating the charity’s 125th birthday, we were forced to close every single one of our properties, to put almost the entirety of our staff on furlough and to ask our volunteers to pause their support. There followed a difficult re-shaping of our organisation to make us leaner, more flexible and more resilient.

While times for us (and the charity sector as a whole) remain testing, I’m pleased to say that the future is looking a lot brighter in 2022. The Trust is back to delivering on its charitable mission of ensuring everyone across the nation has access to nature, beauty and history, and we remain Europe’s largest conservation charity, and the UK’s largest membership organisation (at roughly 5.7m members, we are currently recruiting a new member every 23 seconds!).

What is the wisest thing anyone ever said to you (and who said it)?

“Only a boring person is ever bored” – a rather cutting riposte made by my mum to me at some point in my childhood. It has stuck with me as an eminently wise observation ever since- then again, I suspect my mum had never experienced the joys of a month long stint in a data room on a multi-jurisdictional M&A deal…

What advice would you give to someone who wants to get to where you are/do the job you do?

Be endlessly curious, take time to know yourself and your preferences, and (most crucially) be confident to follow your own path. The benefit of the law is that it offers a huge range of career options, which can take you to different countries, industries, sectors and institutions. The challenge of a career in law is to find your place within it or, if necessary, to have the courage to choose a different career path. Finally, be prepared to take risks – whether that’s moving teams, sectors, institutions or practice areas – as the saying goes – nothing ventured, nothing gained.

What’s your best friend from law school doing now?

They are a high-flying partner in the corporate department of an offshore law firm and get to work in the sunny Cayman Islands. Somewhat odd given that out of the two of us, it is me who is the scuba diving and kite surfing obsessive! Still, given it is currently sleeting outside my window and I haven’t seen a blue sky for a couple of months, I’m not jealous at all… nope, not one tiny bit…