Great Lessons I Learned From My First Mentor

Developing the Next Generation of Rainmakers Great Lessons I Learned From My First Mentor Have you watched the USA Network TV show Suits? Among many things, the show gives you ideas about mentoring in a law firm. When I saw the first episode, it reminded me of my first day in private practice in Roanoke, Virginia. Harvey Specter, the mentor in the show, looks, dresses (wearing three piece suits), and in some cases acts like my first mentor. In that first episode, Harvey advises new associate, Mike Ross, how to dress like a lawyer. I laughed when I saw it because that was my first lesson in private practice. When I arrived for my first day in July, 1976 I wore the only decent suit I owned. (I had spent four years in the USAF wearing a uniform). I can’t remember if I owned a long sleeve dress shirt. I think I arrived at the office wearing a short sleeve dress shirt, short socks and loafers. My mentor (we never used that term at the time) pulled me aside for my lesson in dressing like a lawyer. He advised me in fairly strong terms: I went home that first day and shared with Nancy what a true novice I was. I didn’t even know how to dress like a real lawyer, much less actually be one. Once I was at least dressing like a real lawyer, my first mentor gave me other nuggets of wisdom. I believe he said: It has been 35 years now. So, I am not 100% positive he said all eight things above. It is possible I said some of them when I mentored. Yet, I still remember our early morning conversations.  I became a better lawyer and actually dressed like a lawyer, because of the time my first mentor took to both give me tips and encourage me to dream big dreams. What did your first mentor teach you? Please share what you learned in comments.   I practiced law for 37 years developing a national construction law practice representing some of the top highway and transportation construction contractors in the US.