I recently read a quote that said something along the lines of, “Choosing the right job is nowhere near as important as choosing the right boss.” When I first read that in early 2014, I had no idea how significant it would become in my life. As I’ve chronicled here, much has changed, and I now recognize the importance of a great supervisor and mentor.
As with everything in 2014, I have lucked out in the “right boss” category. The legal department at my job is very small, and I interact with my boss more than ten times a day. Our exchanges are so informative, and I told her recently that I have learned as much in my month of employment under her than in the entire last semester of law school.
Did you catch it?
A supervisor will give you a vague idea of what he wants and expects you to piece together the statements to paint the picture that he has in his head. A good boss, on the other hand, makes sure that you understand what she wants you to do and why. This tiny distinction makes a huge difference in the formation of a great lawyer, as opposed to a good one.
For example, I was tasked with drafting a contract that required very specific language, part of which was a provision that I never learned in law school. I’m not knocking my legal education at all, but this particular contract term was never part of our lectures. (I double checked with a couple of first-year section mates, and they were as clueless as I was.) Anyway, as I sat in my boss’ office, she mentioned the term that she wanted me to add to the contract, and my face must have given away my cluelessness.
Instead of firing me on the spot for being a bit of a himbo, she instead took ten minutes to explain the legal foundation behind the term, the reason that many law schools don’t cover it in a first-year Contracts class, and why it mattered for our particular line of work. It was among the most informative discussions I’ve ever had about a legal concept, and I valued the time she took to show me the ropes.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a good boss.
In my office, we are all working toward the same goal. Everyone is passionate and works really hard, and there is a real sense of teamwork everyday. In addition, egos are checked at the door and competition is not a word we use. Instead, we all humble ourselves and prepare for ten-to-twelve-hour days figuring out how to help our company continue to prosper. It is an awesome work environment, and it’s the first of all of my legal jobs to be like this.
As I started thinking of the subject of this blog, I wondered why my office is so collegial, and I came up with these three important reasons.
- Size: Our company is very small — fewer than twenty people. We put on large-scale events all over the world, and we contract out a lot of the help, but the core team is very contained. We all know what the goals are for the event, our divisions, and the company as a whole, and everyone truly recognizes that he or she is an important cog in the machine.
- Location: I work in Miami Beach. Let’s call a spade a spade: winter sucks, cold weather sucks, freezing rain sucks, and heavy jackets suck. My co-workers and I don’t have to deal with any of that, though; we work in Miami (yes, I’m still rubbing it in)! It’s gorgeous here and, as I said last time, it doesn’t get better than wearing shorts in January. Jealous? #OurManInMiami
- Comprehensive Interview Processes: My interview was very long, and the people with whom I now work spent a lot of time figuring out how I think, how I work, and whether my personality would mesh well with everyone else in the office. I’m used to working for large government agencies where it’s easy to avoid contact with co-workers. At this job, it’s the complete opposite. Not only will I see all of my co-workers in a given day, I’ll see them multiple times. For that reason, our company really strives to make sure that everyone will work together.
On a final note, having the right boss who knows when to delegate really makes everyone’s job easier. We work long, hard hours, but there is very little stress. Everyone knows what his task is, and the completion of the task helps us reach the goal faster. I guess what I’m trying to say is, teamwork makes a dream work, and my beach is better. Capiche?
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Peter Davidson is a recent graduate of law school who rants about news & politics and raves over the ups & downs of FUNemployment in the current legal economy. Tweet him @PeterDavidsonII.
Featured image courtesy of [TheMuuj via Flickr]
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