Qualities of Successful Professionals

I had just 30 minutes to prepare for a court hearing. Not a typo. Thirty minutes. No case file. No background. No second chance. The client had fired their previous advocate that very morning. They were desperate. I was brought in last-minute with nothing but the court number and the brief facts on WhatsApp. The other side? → Senior Counsel with a full legal team. → Pages of written submissions. → Well-rehearsed arguments. I was standing alone with a notepad. But I knew something they didn’t: In an courtroom, the judge is overworked, overloaded, and underwhelmed by drama. What they want is clarity. So while the other side quoted 7 judgments in 10 minutes… I did this: → Spoke in plain English. → Told the judge exactly what the issue was. → Gave 2 reasons why we deserved relief, nothing more. The judge leaned back and said: "Finally, someone is making sense." We won the hearing. Client folded hands in gratitude outside court. Here’s what I took away: → Your job isn’t to show off knowledge. It’s to solve a problem. → Simplicity is not weakness. It’s a strategy. → The best lawyers don’t confuse. They clarify. To every junior young lawyer: Don’t fall into the trap of over-explaining. Speak like you respect the judge’s time. That alone can set you apart.

The biggest lie in sales is being “great with people”. That’s just how you enter the game. Not win it. Every AE I know making $500K/yr isn’t just charismatic — they obsessively master the boring, precise execution 99% of reps wing. Here are 10 things they consistently nail (and you can too): 1. Their discovery offers value like a $1,000/hr consultant Their discovery isn’t about checking boxes. Qualification isn’t the point. They ask sharp, consultative questions that make buyers THINK. They diagnose, educate, and lead the buyer to uncover the business case themselves. 2. Their demos solve problems. Period. Most demos focus on the vendor and their product, forcing buyers to figure out ‘why do anything’, ‘why now’, and 'why us'. Top AEs make buyers feel like THEY are the only thing that matters. No "This feature does X" or "Our ROI is Y". They are 100% focused on the buyer's problems and how peers solved them. 3. Their resource-sharing sells when they’re not in the room Poor AE resource-sharing is selfish. Getting THEIR best white papers or case studies in front of prospects. A spray-and-pray with little thought about how they tie into the buyer's process. Top AEs put thought into what, when, how, and who they share with. So it moves the needle. Never “here’s some collateral". It’s “here’s exactly what your CFO will need for the build vs buy dilemma”. 4. Their multithreading is strategic and choreographed They’re not playing a ladder climbing game: I.e. get to the 'top dog' even if it means pissing off your champion. They understand that influencing power below the line is as important as above it. They know decisions are made in committees and that it's about influencing each person, not just "go wide" . 5. They don’t “run the deal”. They orchestrate it. Top AEs are behind-the-scenes architects. They pull in execs at key moments, activate CS for post-sale confidence, and tee up peers for social proof. It's not about being the hero. It's about building the perfect cast to drive the deal. 6. Their follow-ups feel like an extension of the buyer’s business Every follow-up reads like a project manager’s update: milestones hit, blockers removed, next steps locked. They recap with precision and always give the champion something to forward. It doesn’t feel like selling. It feels like progress. 7. Their champion enablement is bullet-proof They don’t just rely on their champion, they build them. They share talking points, send tailored tools, role-play key moments, and ensure their champion walks into every internal meeting fully armed. When it gets to the CFO, it’s already won. 8-10 in the comments👇 —— Sales isn’t about charisma. It’s about execution. Repeatable. Teachable. $500K W2s are built, not born. P.S. We built Aligned to help AEs level up their execution. Build champions better, multithread, follow up, and more. A Deal Room used by 40K+ top sellers & 1M+ buyers. It's free to try: https://lnkd.in/ddsxHfq6

When it comes to hiring lawyers, yes--school attended and former law firm matter. Partly because it's quick and easy to assess. However, when it comes to longer-term performance, there are often other qualities that matter just as much, if not more. Here are some examples I've heard from hiring managers: 1. Responsiveness: You don't always have to provide a thorough response or be in front of your computer all day. Acknowledge receipt or quickly following up can do wonders for the client experience (internal or external). Anecdotally Biglaw trains you really well for this, although you can certainly develop this habit elsewhere. 2. Ownership Mentality: Can you figure out how to get the job done on your own? The more you can operate autonomously without waiting for someone else to help you, the more value you can quickly add to the team. Being able to "take it and run" is a hugely desirable trait across different types of organizations. Some have called this having "high agency." 3. Understanding the Context: Lawyers operate in ambiguous environments. There may be unspoken rules of the organization or important business context to be taken into account. You have to do a little bit of extra homework. A lawyer isn't just there to provide legal advice in a vacuum, they must incorporate all non-legal information as well. It may not surprise you that these competencies and skills matter not just for legal roles, but also for business roles. They’re qualities I try to exhibit in my day-to day work, and what I value most in my colleagues. And as a hiring manager myself, they also describe what I try to evaluate during the interview process. At the end of the day it's about more than just how many gold stars you have on your resume--it's also about the intangibles that make you highly effective at the job.

The best sales reps solve my problems: 1️⃣ They listen to my actual problems and show me the best solution using their product — and other products. They learn my business fast, and show me exactly how their product solves my problems. 2️⃣ They help me demo, pilot or try the product in whatever fashion makes me the most comfortable. 3️⃣ They are fluent in, and honest about, the competition. This saves me time in my research. No, if your competition also has tons of customers, then they are not terrible at everything. Be honest about where you are strong, where you are equal, and where you are — for now — a bit behind. 4️⃣ They are honest about product gaps and weaknesses so I know up front. This saves me a lot of time and headaches. There is nothing worse than having to discover an important product gap after you’ve bought and deployed an app. But if I know up front, I can plan around it. 5️⃣ They don’t play games with pricing and I know the price is and will be fair from the start. This saves me a lot of time. 6️⃣ They are there for you after the deal. Yes, I know you are handing me off to customer success or whomever. But sometimes, they aren’t great and I need help. The best reps make you feel like they are always there for you, after the sale. Even if secretly, they’d rather be working on their top opportunities. 7️⃣ They’ve done research on me before the first call. They know what I do, who I am, how many employees we have, what we care about and need. This isn’t that hard. But boy it really helps. And works. What the mediocre and poor reps do: 👿 Play (endless) games with price. I don’t have time. I know this may be all you care about, but I have a lot of other needs. 😡 Fake and pressure-filled urgency to buy now. Yes, this is an art. Practice it poorly and you are adding to my headaches. I’ll buy this month if you’ve treated me well and addressed all my needs. But no games about your generic product getting so much more expensive next month. It’s not even true. 😠 Pushing me to buy the wrong / too expensive of an edition. This can blow a deal, or undermine trust. If the simpler edition is fine for now, just sell me that. Lies about the competition. This just makes my job of discovery and learning harder. 🙉 Not understanding my budget and situation. Don’t treat an SMB like a F500 company. Understand their budget and work to it — as a partner. 🎣 Too few check-ins. I need help. 🙅♂️ Too many check-ins. Leave me be. 🛑 Break-up emails. Seriously? That doesn’t help me. You should be there when I’m ready. Even if that’s 6 months from now. 🤑 Playing games on renewals. Ripping me off when we start is bad enough. Ripping me off once I depend on you is even worse. 🔚 Turning off free trials with drama. Not cool. If I need more time, just give it to me. Not everything is life has to be so transactional.

A prospect ghosted me last month. Demo went great. Pricing seemed fine. Technical review passed. Then... silence. I did what most reps do: Called. Emailed. LinkedIn messaged. Called again. Nothing. Two months later, I ran into their VP at a conference. "What happened to our deal?" I asked. His response shocked me: "Our team couldn't agree on implementation. Half thought it would take too long." I was like WTF... That objection never came up on our calls. I could have easily addressed it. The deal died silently. This is the reality of modern selling: For every objection you hear... There are 3 you never will. The real sales conversations happen when you're not in the room. I changed my approach with the next prospect: After our demo, I created a digital room with: - Implementation timeline showing exact steps - FAQ section addressing common concerns - Space for anonymous questions - Engagement tracking on every resource What I discovered was eye-opening: The CFO visited the pricing page 7 times. The IT team kept returning to security documentation. Three stakeholders I'd never spoken to viewed the implementation plan. One left a comment: "Will this integrate with our current workflow?" A objection I would have never heard otherwise. Traditional sales process: You present. They evaluate privately. You guess what's happening. Modern sales process: You present. They evaluate transparently. You see their concerns in real-time. The truth about "ghosted" deals: Your prospects aren't ignoring you. They're stuck in internal debates you can't see. Stop focusing solely on the conversations you're in. Start creating spaces for the conversations happening without you. The deals you save will be the ones you never knew were at risk. Agree?

How do you build a long-lasting career as a freelancer, instead of it being a stopgap or short-lived side hustle? For starters, optimize for interesting, focus on financial longevity, and diversify your offerings. Passing the decade milestone as a freelancer, I’ve identified what’s helped to sustain my interest in the work, continue to drive demand from clients, and other insights that have made self-employment a viable, rewarding path. In my latest for Fast Company, I explore lessons in building a long-term practice based on what’s proven effective for myself and other freelancers. ➤ Niche down strategically so it’s clear what you offer, the types of clients you serve, and what’s unique about your expertise. You can’t be everything for everyone, get specific instead. ➤ Consistently share your ideas publicly, whether through podcasting, a newsletter, or otherwise so clients find you based on your insightful ideas and solutions. ➤ Craft a deployable network. According to Lola Bakare, build relationships with colleagues across sectors, and when the time is right, deploy their willingness to support you. “Be very willing to not just ask for help, but surround yourself in help,” she suggests. You can’t just rely on yourself to make it happen. ➤ Secure social proof. “Over-index on social proof. Early in your career, it's essential to ensure you're being taken seriously,” advises Dorie Clark. “The best way to do this is to gather as much social proof - i.e., easily understood and verifiable symbols of your competence - as quickly as possible.” ➤ Prioritize reliability. “This doesn't mean you have to perform perfectly. It means that you need to show that you value the relationship, and have appreciation and respect for clients who've hired you. That means doing what you've committed to doing, when you've committed to do it, and ensuring open communication around that process,” says Melissa Doman, M.A. ➤ Commit to yearly growth by setting aside time annually to go in-depth on a new learning opportunity that allows you to explore a new area of your business or expand upon an existing offering. ➤ Learn from missteps. “We will all make mistakes, and in my early years, I made a costly error when I relied on a verbal agreement with a friend. That experience taught me the indispensable value of contracts. By clearly defining what our services include—and do not include—we eliminate confusion and potential disputes. It's a preventive measure that has saved me from challenging clients,” added Nicte Cuevas. ➤ Pass on misaligned work. “Many freelancers burn out by working for difficult clients at low rates and then quit. They do this because they need the work — any work. If you can help it, don’t go full-time until you have enough savings to confidently turn work down. Even better, don’t go full-time until your business is threatening to interfere with your job,” suggests Josh Garofalo. Read the article below for all the lessons in more detail. ⭐

Early in my legal career, I thought being a great in-house lawyer meant knowing every risk, drafting perfect contracts, and getting deep into the intricacies of law. I was wrong. Because no matter how solid my legal work was, I kept running into the same problems ·      Contract negotiations dragging on forever. ·      Business teams looping in legal way too late. ·      Last-minute fire drills because no one aligned expectations upfront. Then I was fortunate to have started working with fantastic project managers. I understood, that this wasn’t a legal problem. It was a project management problem. Here’s the difference in mindset that every in house counsel should consider: 🔹 Traditional lawyer: “We need to secure ourselves against every risk before moving forward.” 🔹 Legal project manager: “We’ll flag the risks, assess impact and probability, align with stakeholders on how to manage it and keep things moving.” 🔹 Traditional lawyer: “We’ll review the contract and get back to you.” 🔹 Legal project manager: “Here’s what we need from you, our timelines and key stakeholders to involve.” 🔹 Traditional lawyer: "This deadline isn’t realistic." 🔹 Legal project manager: "We’ll prioritize the pieces that are on the critical path, break it down, and hit the most important items first." What I learned (and what I’m still learning): 📌 Define the scope upfront. Without clear scope you will waste a lot of time doing double work. PMs always define scope first. 📌 Stakeholder alignment is everything. Assumptions kill deals. PMs confirm before they act. 📌 Overcommunicate before things go wrong. Check-ins, shared timelines, expectation-setting. It’s not a waste of time. It’s simple, but it saves so much legal chaos. The results? ✅ Contracts move faster. ✅ Fewer legal bottlenecks. ✅ Legal is a partner - not a roadblock. The best in-house lawyers don’t just think like lawyers. They lead like project managers.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹? 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗢𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴. When I joined my job as a Research Analyst, I thought success was all about knowing the right tools, frameworks, and fancy jargon. But the one skill that’s helped me spot insights faster, connect dots others miss, and even grow as a person? 👉 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Noticing what others skip. Reading what’s not written in a brief. Sensing a client’s hesitation before they voice it. Here’s how observation changed the game for me — and how it can help anyone, in any field: 👇 🔹 𝗜𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵, 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝘂𝗲𝘀 = 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 It’s not always about what the data says — it’s what the data doesn’t say, but hints at. Trends, patterns, shifts in language — observing closely is often what separates a good report from a sharp one. 🔹 𝗜𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀, 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 I started noticing who spoke the most vs. who got heard the most. Big difference. Observing team dynamics helped me position my ideas better — and read the room without needing to dominate it. 🔹 𝗜𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲, 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗴𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗲 Observation helps you listen better. Empathize better. Ask better questions. And that leads to better everything — conversations, decisions, relationships. 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥? 𝐓𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬: ✅ Spend 1 meeting just watching body language ✅ Read a competitor’s website — but analyze what they're not saying ✅ Pause before reacting — observe the full picture first 📌 We’re so busy trying to be seen, we forget the power of seeing. But observation is a quiet superpower — and the most impactful people I’ve met use it masterfully. LinkedIn LinkedIn News India #ResearchSkills #PowerOfObservation #CareerGrowth #UnderratedSkills #ProfessionalDevelopment

I warmed up a prospect for 3 months on LinkedIn before our first call. They signed a £75K deal in 3 days. Modern selling demands a new approach: cold outreach fails, warm relationships win. Think about it... That prospect had consumed 47 of my posts. Watched my videos. Read my articles. Engaged with my content. By the time we jumped on that first call? They already trusted me. They already knew my approach. They already understood the value. I didn't have to sell them. They'd already sold themselves. Here's my framework for turning content into closed deals: 👇 1. Build trust at scale BEFORE the pitch Stop spraying and praying with cold messages. Start building relationships through value. Each post builds trust. Your insights mark credibility. Stories create connection. Your content is doing the heavy lifting while you sleep. 2. Let buyers self-educate on THEIR timeline Modern buyers don't want to be sold to. They want to discover solutions themselves. ↳ 70% of the buying journey happens before they talk to sales ↳ They're researching you before you even know they exist ↳ Your content is either attracting or repelling them Give them what they need to make informed decisions. 3. Recognize the REAL buying signals Forget MQLs and SQLs. Think about PQLs (product qualified leads) Here's what actually matters: - Multiple engagements across different posts - Bringing colleagues into the conversation - Asking specific, detailed questions - Moving from public comments to private messages These aren't leads. These are pre-qualified buyers. 4. Keep momentum BETWEEN meetings Here's where most deals die: The 167 hours between your calls. While you're chasing other prospects, your buyer is: ↳ Getting cold feet ↳ Talking to competitors ↳ Forgetting why they were excited Smart sellers stay present even when they're not there. This is where tools like Consensus come in. They let buyers explore demos on their own time. Answer their questions at 10 PM. Share materials with their team. Stay engaged between touchpoints. It's how you keep social selling momentum right through the demo stage. https://lnkd.in/ePVWw-Bi 5. Close with confidence, not pressure When trust is already built? When value is already proven? When buyers are already educated? Closing feels natural, not like a battle. The best deals I've ever closed felt inevitable. Because the relationship started months before the opportunity. Here's what this approach delivers (in my experience): ✓ Significantly faster sales cycles ✓ Much higher close rates ✓ Bigger deal sizes (pre-sold = less negotiation) ✓ Happier customers (they chose you, not the other way around) Stop thinking of social selling as "nice to have." Start treating it as your primary sales strategy. Your next big deal isn't in your CRM. They're scrolling LinkedIn right now. What content are you creating to catch them? #ConsensusPartner