Much like showbiz, in almost every legal and other professional field, there are a few superstars. If you want the benefits of superstardom – recognition, choice of work for the best clients, price premiums, handsome financial returns, and exceptional bargaining power – then “earn” it.
Here’s how to get on the superstar track.
Frame the universe in which you’re going to superstar. Don’t go after the same old spaces to be just one more of the increasing many.
Rather, find a niche which you can dominate. Better still, create a unique niche.
Excel within your selected niche. Never take on a project, or let a piece of work go out the door, where you aren’t proud of it.
Promise what you can deliver. Don’t fall into the trap of creating expectations that you can’t fulfil. Equally, get on the front foot: do confidently promise what you can achieve.
Treat your clients as VIPs. All of them. If they’re not worthy of VIP treatment, don’t take the brief – refer it.
Share your expertise. Generously. With your clients, colleagues, the wider profession, other experts, and the press.
Research. Learn. Publish. Constantly. Get the message out there. Continually increase the expertise-distance between yourself and those would-be superstars who will come after you.
With rapid advancement of knowledge, as the old saying goes, you have to run very fast to stay standing still. You have to run even faster to be a superstar.
Be unique, distinctly different, and stand apart. Be prepared to challenge orthodoxy and develop highly differentiated approaches to solving problems, driving deals, and applying your expertise in each client’s interests.
Be passionate about what you do. Genuine professional passion will stand out, and fuel your trajectory as a superstar.
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