This article on Above the Law by a managing partner confirms the importance of being enthusiastic, one of the keys identified in an earlier post about how to be a superstar associate.

The author references a Dale Carnegie drill and notes that everyone wants to be around an enthusiastic person.  He says “[t]hat is the guy who gets the job, who gets the promotion, who gets the client, who gets it all.”

LegalJob obviously agrees with one caveat.  There will be some partners and clients who may find a high-level of enthusiasm to be off-putting and perhaps too excitable to be around.  For this reason, some folks would advise you to tailor your approach depending on your audience.  LegalJob disagrees.  If you are generally an enthusiastic (or some could say passionate) person, then let your true nature shine.  Do not “fake it until you make it.”  Be the real you and be okay with not pleasing everyone.  Of course, the corollary here is that if you are not generally an enthusiastic person, you probably should not pretend just because Carnegie said so.  However, even in that case, give yourself a fighting chance by pursuing a legal practice area that you genuinely enjoy (and thus, may have the potential to excite you to the point at which your high-interest level becomes obvious).

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