What Makes a Good Associate?

When I hear people talk about what makes a good associate, especially a good junior associate, I hear a lot of the same qualities over and over again:

Resourceful

Enthusiastic

Responsive

Available

Efficient

Takes ownership

Displays humility

And these are all great qualities that will serve you well. 

But you have to define them for yourself. 

And in particular, you have to decide what they don't mean to you, so that you can create a practice that is meaningful and sustainable. 

Being resourceful doesn’t have to mean you have figure everything out on your own or that you can’t ask questions or ask for help or that you should get everything right the first time. 

Being enthusiastic doesn’t have to mean you have to volunteer for every opportunity that presents itself.

Being responsive doesn’t have to mean that you respond to every email the second it hits your inbox or that you always have to be checking email at 10pm every night or during dinner. 

Being available doesn’t have to mean that you don’t have a personal life or don’t take vacations. 

Being efficient doesn’t have to mean that you’re a failure if something takes you longer than you or someone else expected or that you should cut your own time.

Taking ownership doesn’t have to mean that you should be able to know and predict everything that’s going to happen in a matter or what everyone is going to expect of you. 

Having humility doesn’t have to mean to that you don’t advocate for yourself or that you can’t be proud of yourself or that you can’t tout your accomplishments.

So when you're thinking about embodying any of these qualities… 

First, you already embody them. Think about how that’s true for you. 

Second, if you want to focus on embodying them even more, you still get to decide what that looks like for you. It’s worth taking the time to make that decision. Otherwise your brain is always going to tell you that you aren’t living up to those standards.

Becoming an associate is a steep learning curve. It feels really hard a lot of the time. But you can you add some compassion, gentleness, and intentionality from the get go, which will completely change the way your career feels now and for as long as choose you to do it.