This post from David Maister’s blog makes good advice for PR people as well as lawyers. The whole piece is worth reading, but the salient points are:

Be someone others count on. Clients come to you because they have a situation they cannot solve on their own. Solve it. Don’t add to their problem by being hard to find, missing deadlines, or describing their problem back to them.

Be an interesting person. Read books, go to movies, be part of politics, go to lectures. You’ll meet people, you’ll be able to talk about things other people find interesting, and you won’t burn out.

Look out for yourself. Accept that you are in charge of your success. If you think you need experience in an area, go get it. Ask for a promotion – people aren’t watching what you do as carefully as you think.

Determination matters more than intellect. Great careers are the result of day after day deciding to do good work and being someone who others count on.

Be enthusiastic. Clients want to do things. They want to be told how to do what they want to do. And they want to know that you’re happy to be part of what they’re doing.

Trust yourself. If you don’t understand something it may be because it in fact doesn’t make sense, not because you are stupid. Don’t let a conversation continue past the point where you understand what is being said.

Get involved. You know how to organize your thoughts, analyze a situation, and articulate action plans. Use those skills everywhere. Stuff will get done, people will appreciate your initiative, and you will derive satisfaction from making things better.

Be nice and have fun. Just doing that makes life better for everybody, mostly you.

Words to live (and practice) by.