In It For The Long Run
Partner Jayne Backett offers career advice for young attorneys (especially, but not exclusive, women attorneys).
“The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself.”
–Plato
It is marathon season in London. My absolute favourite time of year as blossom starts to appear on the trees, the mornings and evenings get gradually lighter, and runners are out everywhere.
Whilst I work with a lot of Type A people who regularly do Iron Man challenges and Marathon Des Sables, the most endearing feature of the London Marathon for me is about seeing the first-time marathon runners who have created the discipline in the months leading up to the event to be able to run as far and as fast as they need to go on the day.
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It got me thinking in the work context about the types of things that people put off doing because those challenges are out of their comfort zone. Here are a few examples:
• Public Speaking
• Using the telephone instead of email
• Asking managers for new working terms
• Appraising other team members
• Asking clients for feedback and/or recommendations
• Talking to strangers at networking events
There is a theme amongst the examples listed, which is that all of them require us to put ourselves out there with the possibility of rejection or backlash. It’s easier not to put ourselves in those situations, but having the discipline to do so could create a chain of transformational positive reactions.
What if a phone call led to a new piece of work you’d never have gotten by emailing? What if that new piece of work led to some great feedback and a recommendation? What if that recommendation led to another new piece of work? That would be two pieces of new work from one simple phone call.
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What if providing your team members with open and honest feedback led to them becoming phenomenal lawyers instead of just average?
If, like me, you are a fan of the Karate Kid films (both old and new), then it’s probably because they are stories about self-discipline, perseverance, and mental strength. Mr Miyagi tells Daniel that it is ok to lose to an opponent, but that he must not lose to fear. Fear is what we have to combat in order to enhance ourselves. There was a fantastic example of that kind of mind-over-matter mentality recently in a London boxing match between heavyweights David Haye and Tony Bellew. Haye was suffering from a leg injury, which became more apparent as the fight progressed. By round six, Haye could barely stand and was clearly in agony. Nevertheless, he carried on and the fight went eleven rounds.
How we cope with challenges and how much discipline we apply to conquering our fears will be the greatest test of what we can achieve in our careers. For that reason, it is vital to factor in our fears to our business planning and career progression. Set yourself daily, weekly and monthly targets, such as:
1) I will pick up the telephone and make 3 phone calls to clients today.
2) I will attend 2 events this month and talk to at least 6 people I have never met before.
3) Before I allow myself to submit an invoice to any client, I will ask them for their feedback.
As your discipline improves, the tasks that you set become habits, and instead of focussing on whether you will do the task at all, your focus will be on how you can improve your performance in doing the things that have become second nature to you.
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This is the cycle of self-discipline moving to self-enhancement. Admittedly, I acknowledge that there are some amazing examples of talent that hard work alone may not explain, but a larger percentage of the time perseverance plays the crucial role in what is possible. We acquire skills, and it is our determination to realise our greatest potential that is the key, not some higher ordainment of talent.
Take, for example, George Mallory, who tried several times in the 1920s to climb to the top of Mount Everest without success. Such was his determination to scale the summit that he died trying in 1924 and his body was found in 1999 just two thousand feet from the peak. The eventual successful ascenders didn’t reach the top until almost 30 years after George’s stoic final attempt.
As a woman working in or towards a leadership role in the law, discipline will become your best friend and can help you set the kinds of goals that will make you stand out from your peers. It is important not to benchmark your goals against goals of others around you as this will lead you to aiming too low. Your goals (daily, weekly, monthly and annually) have to be set sky high and you’ll have to expend mammoth amounts of energy meeting them. There is no point underestimating what it will take. You will feel tired, you will feel drained, and you will want to give up. It will be exactly like a marathon.
Just like learning to run a long distance, when you finally achieve your targets, the sense of accomplishment will be overwhelming and you’ll know how hard you’ve worked, what you’ve sacrificed, and how much discipline it has taken you to get there.
Jayne Backett is a partner at Fieldfisher LLP in London specializing in banking transactions, with a particular focus on real estate financing. Fieldfisher is a 600-lawyer European law firm, with a first-class reputation in a vast number of sectors, specifically, financial institutions, funds, technology and fintech, retail, hotels and leisure, and health care. Jayne has a depth of experience in mentoring and training junior lawyers and has a passion for bringing discussions on diversity in law to the forefront. She can be reached by email at [email protected], and you can follow her on Twitter: @JayneBackett.
