Barack Obama's excellent advice for young professionals:
"[J]ust learn how to get stuff done.”
Obama says that too many professionals wait for "the plum assignment," but "killing it" with any project -- no matter how big or small -- is a better way of getting noticed and building your career.
“What I'm always looking for is, no matter how small the problem or how big it is, somebody who says, ‘Let me take care of that.'"
I always thought "getting things done" was the most important gift lawyering gave me.
I realized at a younger age that too many lawyers, including me, were unhappy because we were focusing on the "surface-level" work we were doing: "I went to law school to do international human rights; why am I looking at Guaranty & Collateral Agreements for JP Morgan," I used to think.
Then I realized that lawyering is not about the surface-level work: At it's best, lawyering is about getting things done.
Don't get lost in the skyscraper -- learn how to get things done, and move forward!
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