when you're working hard but feel like you're getting nowhere...
“I will say this about [fourth year associate] - he’s the best first year associate we’ve got.” That’s what a partner told me during an interview for the Successful Junior Lawyer Project. Ouch.
If you're working hard but feel like you're getting nowhere, you probably expect the relationship between effort and results to look like this:
Partly, this makes sense. Effort is necessary if you want to succeed. (duh Paul) But it’s NOT enough on its own. 🤔 That was the mistake that associate had made - he was working really hard, but it wasn't delivering results. Gone are the days when you can simply grind your way to success. The equation is missing something. The real relationship is this:
It's your DIRECTED effort that gives you results.
If you don't direct your effort, you risk winding up like the associate being described to me above - really good at yesterday’s skills without ever having given yourself a chance to learn tomorrow's (or even today's) skills.
You risk still being seen as a first year.
Turns out, playing it safe is one of the least safe things you can do.
We need to take smart risks and keep growing, so that people see us developing and know we’re ready for the next level. Otherwise, they'll just assume we belong exactly where we are (and if you're in a firm with an 'up or out' model, that can be fatal).
What smart risks are you ready to take? Where are you ready to grow?
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