The Rules I Keep Coming Back To

In my last year of school, the headteacher stopped me and a few friends at lunch.

“I’ve never come across you before,” he said.
“You must be the good kids.”

It stuck.

Because when you’re putting out a dozen fires a day, the ones quietly doing the right things get missed.
And a dozen fires a day, for five years straight, is hell.

Years later, I realised the same thing happens in law.
The quiet, compounding work gets drowned out by the urgent and noisy.

Some clients lift you.
They have a bold vision.
They hold themselves to high standards.
They value you.
They make you better.

Others - even with the best intentions - pull you off course.

Feed the good kids.
The energy you give them comes back multiplied.

Once you’ve chosen who to serve, decide how you’ll serve them.

Ask yourself: what can only I do that my competitors aren’t prepared to do?

That’s the breakthrough.
That’s where the moat is.

Sometimes it means turning away work that would pay well now - because it’s not in the client’s best interests long term.
It costs you in the short run.
It pays you back in trust.

That trust grows faster when everyone’s responsible for it.

Growth isn’t a department.
It’s a habit.
If you’re in the room, you’re in the pitch.
If you can send the update, you can make the ask.

And when you hire, hire the ones who’ll protect and grow that trust.

The hungry.
The relentless.
The one you’d hate your competitor to hire.
The one you can hand your most important matters to without a second thought.

Credentials are easy to find.
Impact is rare.

This takes time.
It’s always relentless.
You will be firefighting.
You may feel like surrendering.

But make the time today to plant the seeds that will shade you tomorrow.

Because the good kids - in school or in business - are worth the investment.

✍️ Note to self:
Stop reacting to heat. Start setting it.