He’s an ass-kisser. She’s just lucky. I never catch a break. Some guys have all the luck. (Apologies to Rod Stewart)
Bullshit. Successes are not born, they’re made. See that lawyer who just won the verdict that got plastered on the front cover of the bar journal? The attorney with the new Benz every year who seems to take more vacations than most infants take naps?
Those, my friend, are successes. And if you think they just fell back-asswards into it then you’re sorely mistaken. I’ve talked about how to get lucky, but hard work is only half the battle. You can work as hard as you like, but if you’re working on the wrong thing then it’s not going to make you a success – it’s just going to make you tired and angry.
Successes share some key qualities. I’m not talking about being Outliers, either; there are traits that are developed over time and nurtured so that the chances of a win are maximized. Put your 10,000 hours into practicing these things and make them into habits. Once you do, success is closer than you think.
Fire-Bomb Weakness With Education
Successful lawyers don’t know everything; in fact, they know what they don’t know. I’m not stupid enough to handle a complex Chapter 11 bankruptcy case – I know enough to realize I don’t know how to handle one. A successful lawyer constantly does a SWOT Analysis to sniff out the gaps. From there, they set about learning the answers. There’s no time for moaning and whining about what they don’t know because a lawyer who is going to be successful is going to be too busy finding solutions. Now.
That learning process is never-ending, because a success is always actively seeking the next challenge. It’s like a man wandering in the desert for a decade – he’s always thirsty, and he’s not going to pick his head up from the spigot if he’s got a choice.
Create Ambitious Opportunity
Look, the economy sucks. Your practice area may be lower than the stock price of pets.com after the bubble burst. Maybe you’ve taken to endlessly sharpening pencils and lining them up just so on your desk. If you sit around and wait for it to get better, what happens if it doesn’t? Eventually the pencil’s going to wear down, don’t you think? What then?
Think about the field of law that’s likely to hit next. Don’t pick the hot field today – everyone’s already packed into that courthouse and fighting for clients. Besides, you need some time to learn it. By the time you’ve got a sense of how things work, the boom may be over. Don’t wait, do it today. Tomorrow’s too late.
Ask Forgiveness, Not Permission
Ayn Rand had the right idea. Don’t want for someone to give you permission to do something. Don’t wait until you’re anointed by some unseen force to build an expertise in a new field of law. Don’t sit on the sidelines waiting to be invited to speak at the Chamber of Commerce. Don’t hope for a benevolent benefactor. Because I hate to tell you this – there’s nobody coming to save you.
Go online and read every published decision in your field of law. Follow every link to every outside source, and read those as well. Take notes. Create mindmaps. Go to the court and pull a bunch of files to see how the best lawyers in town are handling things. Then start taking action.
Expect – And Accept – Failure
I wish I could tell you that being a success means you win. It doesn’t. In fact, you lose more often than you win. When you make a mistake, you learn from it (remember the first point). Rocky lost to Apollo Creed. Steve Jobs lost so much with Pixar before Toy Story it was absurd. Coke lost with New Coke. Abraham Lincoln’s losses prior to becoming President are legendary – and even in winning the Oval Office he lost half the country and got us embroiled in a war with one another. Each one of these epic losses ended in staggering successes.
Eye Of The Tiger. Coca-Cola trouncing Pepsi. End of slavery. Steve Jobs – yeah, he did alright.
Don’t Be An Asshat
Successful lawyers play fair. They don’t punch below the belt, and they don’t pull an Enron. When they win, they give back to the people around them. They share the fruits of victory, and recognize that they could not do it alone. The paralegals, the secretaries, the people who made it all possible.
It is all about fair play and win-win. Winners are passionate about their goals as much as they are of their values.
You think successful lawyers are born and not made? You think it’s easy to get the mansion and the yacht? Think again. It takes hard work, a willingness to lose, a drive to move ahead without an invitation, and a constant struggle to expand your knowledge.
Easy? No. Worth it? Yes – because even if you lose more than you win, it’s a lot easier to keep going if you’re in control of your life.
Some rights reserved by arnold | inuyaki
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