Luck is nothing without hard work and a willingness to learn and grow
You make your own luck.
While I was practicing law at the Securities and Exchange Commission as a junior lawyer, I received this advice from a senior supervisor. I had worked hard for years to complete a significant investigation and had achieved a successful outcome for the agency. Some of my colleagues gossiped around the office, denigrating my role in the matter, claiming I had been “lucky,” and it was just my good fortune that had led to success. In response to the gossip, which filtered up to office leadership, many things were said — but the thing that stuck was the comment made to me by my supervisor: “You make your own luck.”
I have never forgotten that advice.
My hard work on that first matter led to more opportunities to work on challenging matters with senior decision makers who became my mentors. Those mentors continued to rely on my work and judgment and promoted me into increasingly senior positions at the agency. When I left the SEC, I joined a law firm with one of my mentors who had worked with me on that first case, and that is where I practice now. It is true that I have had good fortune in my experience as a woman practicing law – good fortune to have worked in positions in the government and in private practice with mentors and leaders that paved the way, trained me, and invested time in helping me grow.
I have, without a doubt, been lucky.
But, as my former boss said to me then, and as I have repeated countless times since — you make your own luck. Had I not worked hard for many years on that first significant matter, struggling through thousands of documents and dozens of witness testimonies, learning accounting, sparring with partners from law firms with decades more experience than I who were defending their clients, I would not have been successful in achieving that first positive outcome. My so-called “lucky” outcome became the first of many significant successes on cases and matters in government and now in private practice for my clients. Each subsequent success only came about through hard work, showing up every day, making and learning from mistakes, taking on new skills, and challenging myself to never settle for the easy road, but instead, to take on difficult and complex tasks. I owe my current leadership roles to the hard work and challenges overcome in that first case many years ago, and the lesson I learned then about making my own luck.
