In a Friends in Law Podcast interview in 2023, we spoke at length with Marcus Payne a seasoned General Counsel who has spent time with Queensland Urban Utilities and is now at Griffith University. Marcus talked about his legal career to date, including his time as Chief Counsel at QLD Health during the Covid-19 pandemic, his personal highlights (which include his recent swim of the English Channel!) and how he goes about goal setting and planning for his own career. You can listen to the full episode here.

To kick off the new year we are taking the lessons that we have learned from our time with Marcus and combining it with our own tools for career planning success.

In his interview with Alex Correa, Marcus suggests that any lawyer should be thinking two jobs ahead when they are making career decisions. He provides the reasons for this.

• It gives you a sense of where you are going and the next job on the path to get there
• It gives you a framework to make career decisions when evaluating opportunities
• It gives you a manageable timeframe of 2-5 years and therefore does not to feel too overwhelming

Marcus is a big advocate for chunking goals into manageable portions. His incredible recent achievement of swimming the English Chanel has proven this approach works in life, in training and at work.

Keeping Goals Manageable

By splitting up your goals into small achievable tasks, you make them mentally and physically manageable. Marcus says that “Anyone can do amazing things, it is just about having the right approach and not trying to do too much too quickly”

Marcus reminds us that goals and career pathways do not always have a linear progression. Lawyers might need additional skills or training to get to where they want to go. They may need to consider secondments to build on commercial or business acumen or consulting for client relationship skills. Taking a secondment can also give you an excellent perspective on what else is out there and give you the space to reflect on the path you are on. Marcus goes on to say, “There is enormous value in getting out of your comfort zone and learning new things.”

Invest Time to Plan Strategically

Life and work are busy, and the legal profession can be a very reactive business. Marcus advocates taking time out to think strategically about where you are heading and even to project plan this into smaller steps.

Work Should Be Enjoyable

We love this advice! Marcus suggests spending time reflecting on what it is in your career that you enjoy doing. At same time, consider what it is about your job that you are good at. The luckiest of people spend their working lives at the intersection of these two factors. He says “Do not do things that you are not enjoying. Do not stay the course if this is the case”

Marcus goes on to say that “It is enormously important to surround yourself with good people, that you can have fun with, work well with, and learn from. We all spend so much time at work – this is a critical part of life and working.” We could not agree more.

The Alex Correa Executive Individual Career Planning Tool

Of the many potential candidates we talk to, one thing tends to make them stand out from the crowd. Those that spend time and strategically career plan and regularly check back in with their goals to reassess, tend to have well-structured career pathways and exemplary CV’s.

The purpose of the Individual Career Plan (ICP) that you can download below with our complements, can help you to do this for yourself in five simple steps  that are easily repeatable at different stages of your career.

Many lawyers embark on their careers without a great deal of planning. They generally undertake many years of study to achieve their qualifications and then follow this up by securing a position in their chosen field. Once this has been achieved early in life, it can be easy to lose sight of the goal setting and milestones that helped them do this. These are important elements that not only bring us professional satisfaction and development but also contribute to our personal lives, which brings satisfaction and even joy.  

Having coached many professionals over the years, we have seen first-hand how those who take the time to plan and track their careers achieve their career goals much sooner than many of their peers. The aim of this Individual Career Plan is to provide insight into your personal drivers, areas of potential growth and development, as well as enabling you to highlight your strengths. These factors combined help to provide direction on how to get your career on a purposeful track.

Download Individual Career Plan Here

Now that you have performed a self-assessment, considered your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and limitations, and set yourself a career objective and your current career goals, then consider how you are going to keep yourself accountable.

Are you going to share them with a partner, a mentor, or a supervisor? If so, ensure you have regular check-ins to determine where you are at, to celebrate your milestones, correct your course if necessary or even pivot if the goals are no longer relevant. Set some time in your diary to review them yourself quarterly, six monthly and annually to give yourself the best chance of success.

Legal Careers are a marathon and not a sprint, and it is important to remember that help is always available. We regularly provide career advice to lawyers to help them evaluate their next opportunity. By putting in the groundwork now, you provide yourself with the framework to climb the career ladder and into that dream job, one step at a time.

If you would like to discuss your career with one of our specialist legal industry recruiters, please get in touch at info@alexcorreaexecutive.com.au. We are always here to help!