Member-only story
6 Soft Skills that will Supercharge a Legal (or Corporate) Career
Building the right daily habits will help you survive.
It should be a revelation to no one — the ones who get ahead in the legal and corporate worlds are not always the smartest.
What the people at the top have in common is the ability to adapt to their environments. You can be the most intelligent person in every room you walk into. But if you’re not capable of integrating into a team, you’re not useful.
Here are 6 “soft skills” that will give you an edge in almost any law firm or corporate work environment.
1) Saying No
You’re a new hire at one of the world’s largest law firms, making $200k/year for the first time in your life.
A rainmaker Partner calls you up and asks if you can take on a new project. You’re her first choice, and a perfect fit, but you have 0 capacity. If you take on the work, you won’t be able to go home until 10 p.m. all week — and you’ll probably have to work the weekend.
Do you:
a) Turn down the work, and risk burning a bridge with a mover/shaker; or
b) Accept the work and give up your nights and weekend?
