I don’t believe in luck. Good or bad. When I played professional tennis, I encountered many athletes who believed that luck could make the difference between a win and a loss or how well they played, how much money they earned—or the highs … and lows of a world ranking. And I’ve seen remarkable parallels to this mentality in the business world. Since I began my career as an attorney and legal recruiter/adviser, I’ve heard professionals talk a lot about luck. Refer to it, wish for it, credit it, thank God for it, curse the lack of it and resent others for having it. All believing that chance will intervene to tip the scales of career success.
But the truth is, luck is not the result of perfect planetary alignment or someone from the other side directing events or a magical trinket. Luck is earned. Through years of relationship building, skill development, career strategy, success, failure, crisis, perseverance, optimism and courage. And it is in this pursuit that some professionals earn multiple “lucky” breaks, others … less. But it only takes one to make the difference. So whatever your dream: To be GC, move in-house, make partner, come out of “retirement, ”build a $20 million book, transition to the business side, manage a team, make millions or rule the world … you better believe that you’ll need to make your own luck to get there.
