Being Number 1, Career Dips and Quitting
Would it surprise you to know that I thought of quitting a few times in my career? The first time was when I was a first year law student. During the first semester I worked very hard and had no idea how I was doing. I thought to myself: "Who needs this?" I'll just quit law school and fulfill my active duty commitment to the Air Force. Well, I didn't quit and at the end of the first semester I was third in my class. In 1980 I tried a case in West Virginia. One issue in the case was the reasonable cost of completing a construction project. I argued $130,000. The contractor's lawyer argued $30,000. We had jury interrogatories with the specific question: "What was the reasonable cost to complete the project?" The jury answered: "0." I was devastated. I asked the judge to send the jury back. After all, the amount had to be somewhere between $30,000 and $130,000. He refused. On my way back home, I thought to myself that maybe I was not cut out for this stuff. But, what else could I do. So, I stuck with it again. This week I listened to a Podcast interview of Seth Godin. http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/podcast.php The focus of the interview was Godin's 78 page book: The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches When to Quit (and When to Stick) . I bought the book for $7.77 and I would urge you to buy it also. I like it because it focuses on the importance of being number one-"the go to person" in your field. Godin says that to be a superstar it helps if your niche has a steep dip-the barrier between those who try and those who succeed. Microsoft has created a dip so deep and wide that its competitors quit before catching up. Apple has done the same with iTunes and the iPod. I believe I did it with my writing and speaking on transportation construction. No other lawyer had near the content or number of speaking engagements I had. Godin notes that every project starts out to be exciting. Later there is a dip. Less successful people quit or decide it is OK to be average. Many successful people quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt based on the priorities in their life. They commit to beating the right dips for the right reasons. They actually seek out dips and realize the bigger the dip, the greater the reward for getting through it. One of the questions Seth Godin is frequently asked is how do you know when it is time to quit. He suggests that it is time to quit when you realize you are have been settling for mediocrity or when you see no measurable improvement and no way to change how you measure it. Seth Godin says the worst time to quit is when the pain is the greatest. For more about the book, go to http://www.squidoo.com/thedipbook.
A couple of months ago, I participated in a program for a very successful New York based firm. The title of the program was "Path to Partnership." The program was for the firm's senior associates. The managing partner introduced me and talked for about five minutes about his vision of the professional and personal attributes of lawyers the firm wants to have as partners. I followed with a one hour presentation. I told the associates there is no formula, but there is an approach that begins with figuring out what is important in their lives. After my presentation, five junior partners told the group about their path to partnership. One junior partner had been a lateral as a senior associate. Another had left the firm to try cases in the US Attorney's Office in Washington, DC. Two of the partners had been with the firm from the beginning. One told the associates that he had come to the firm for the summer while in law school "just for the experience." He never intended to come back as a first year associate. When he did, he planned to leave after a couple of years. Turns out he never left.
While each of the junior partners got to partnership in a different way, they shared one thing in common. During their years as associates, they experienced many dips. They each wondered if the effort they were making was really worth it. One young partner got through the dips because he needed the income to pay for the place he was living in the city. All five of the young partners said that a breakthrough occurred for them when they first sensed what they were doing was making a difference for a client. I came away with the appreciation that each of us encounters dips in our careers. In order to get through them we need a powerful reason-the reason that is the right one for us.
If you are interested in my PowerPoint or the handouts from this program, just let me know and I will send them to you.
