Labor / Employment, On The Job

8 Signs That You Are Not On Your Way To Success

Sorry, but it may be time to reconsider what success means to you.

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Success is a relative thing.  To some it’s the corner office, more money, and professional recognition.  To others its living a peaceful life next to Walden Pond, or traveling and working odd jobs all over the world, or devoting life to people, animals, or a cause.

But today, let’s stick to making it as a lawyer, that is, making partner and earning a ton of money.

You studied hard all through school, got accepted to an Ivy League school, and still working your tail off were accepted into a top-10 law school — where you worked even harder still.   It paid off — you slave now at a top-tier firm, having formerly clerked for a federal judge.

Now what?

By now you should know the drill — work your tail off for another 8-10 years and maybe – maybe — if the stars align (and, especially, if you are a white male), you will be made a PARTNER!  Success!!

Not. So. Fast.

I said “if you’re lucky.”  And if you work your tail off for another 8-10 years.  It’s not automatic or a slam dunk.  In fact, the odds are slim.  And now you have a spouse, maybe a kid on the way (maybe twins!), and other obligations that take up some (or a lot) of your valuable success-time.  Life balance is not so easy anymore — gotta give up yoga, happy hours, poker nights.  Or else work twice as hard — you know, put a cot in your small, windowless office and when the light’s out at 4 a.m. pretend you’re camping at Yosemite.

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But let’s assume that you are doing your darnedest to make it, to achieve success — the Holy Grail.   How do you know if you are on the right track?

One key fact: remember that it’s a zero-sum game — if others make it you don’t.  So, you may be running hard, but if you are not ahead of the pack you’re nowhere.  You’re engaged in more cutthroat competition; and don’t get too chummy with that associate down the hall — she may stab you in the back.

Let’s recap what we now know.  You have worked diligently and relentlessly, harder than the other seven people on your corridor.

But how do you know how you’re doing?  Are there milestones or markers along the way?  Point totals that you can constantly check?  Big data or metrics that you can consult?  ANY objective factors?

Ummm … no.  You have to rely on your instincts and observations, so develop your 5+ senses and keep a keen eye out.  Imagine that you’re a predator — or prey — in the jungle and sleep with one eye open.  And never, NEVER, let down your guard.  As Satchel Paige said (never mind who he was — for all you know he was a disgruntled office seeker), “Don’t look back, something might be gaining on you.”   (He also presciently said: “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?”)

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But as always, I can help.  I have some heretofore well-kept double secret tips that, now that I am of a certain age, I feel free to make public.  So here it is: how to tell that you’re not making it; that your path has some kinks in it; that, maybe, after 20 years of school and in the midst of long and grueling hours you may be working your way outta there, and maybe it’s time to cut your losses (nah, it’s not happening to you!).

  1. You are a fifth-year associate and still lugging the books around. Sorry — forgot what year this is.  You’re still doing basic legal research on your desktop.  Which you still have to submit to a seventh-year. And which is no different than when you were a first-year.  And is no different than current first-years.  And you are never — NEVER — permitted to speak with a partner without a senior associate chaperoning you. Not a good sign.
  1. You try to suck up to who you think are the right people but you see others sucking up to more senior people, who don’t even know who you are.  One even asked you if you were a paralegal, and walked away as you were explaining who you were.   Know that the suckees talk among themselves and know who’s who among the suckers and where in the pecking order they fit even if they pretend they don’t.
  1. You seem to be the last one out — if you leave at all — while others skip out at 3 a.m. The cleaning person leaves and bids you good morning by name.  Why is this always the case?  Why you?
  1. You are instrumental in winning a big case, or closing a big deal, and the Grand Exalted One thanks everyone on the team by name but forgets yours — or calls you “pal” or “Big Guy.”  Or even skips over you.  Not a positive sign.
  1. You seem to be the only one in your class who has never met a client. Or has never been in court — even as a second chair on a motion (first chair does not even come into the picture with you).  Or has never been asked to lunch by any of the Grand Exalted Ones.  Hmmm.
  1. The firm has purchased a table for 10 at a big client’s favorite fundraising event — a charity to save the endangered dung beetle — and you volunteered to go and even got to go (boy, the other associates will be envious!).  But you were the only one at your table.  Besides the two mail room clerks who dressed to the nines for the occasion, one of whom fell over dead drunk midway through the speech of by the guest of honor, The Grand Beetle Wizard.
  1. Although you are indeed working your tail off, you seem to be getting less work. Forget about getting less interesting work — but getting less work, period.  Are they telling you something?  Most likely.
  1. Finally, the dead giveaway. You arrive one fine morning — assuming that you actually left the night before — and find that your desk has been moved to the file room behind the spare copy machine. And your former office is occupied by the main copy machine.

It’s now time to reconsider what success means to you.

richard-b-cohenRichard B. Cohen has litigated and arbitrated complex business and employment disputes for almost 40 years, and is a partner in the NYC office of the national “cloud” law firm FisherBroyles. He is the creator and author of his firm’s Employment Discrimination blog, and received an award from the American Bar Association for his blog posts. You can reach him at Richard.Cohen@fisherbroyles.com and follow him on Twitter at @richard09535496.

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