Ignore These 7 Rules to Accelerate Your In-House Career (Do These Things Instead)

Deep Dive

Outdated Professional “Rules” Are Holding In-House Lawyers Back. It’s Time to Re-Write the Rules.

Some unspoken professional rules are timeless. They guide good judgment, build trust, and help us navigate complex environments. But others are outdated. Followed today, they can quietly limit your impact and stall your growth.

As in-house lawyers, knowing which rules to follow is important. So is knowing which ones to leave behind.

Here are seven old rules worth rethinking—and what to replace them with if you want to grow your influence, stay indispensable, and build the in-house career you actually want.

1. Old Rule: Put your head down and do good work.
New Rule: Do good work—and raise your hand for new opportunities.

Doing good work is essential. But just doing good work, with your head down, eyes on the prize, is unlikely to lead to the success you desire.

You can’t passively sit back and expect the most exciting projects to fall into your lap. You have to seek them out.

In-house lawyers need visibility across the business so colleagues know where to turn with high-impact work. We also need to stay alert to problems and opportunities others may not see, and we need to proactively offer to help.

Keep your head up. Spot opportunities. Raise your hand. That’s how you grow your influence and accelerate your career.

2. Old Rule: Your loyalty will be rewarded.
New Rule: You will be rewarded for delivering meaningful value.

There was a time when employees (even lawyers!) expected to stay with the same company or firm for their entire careers. Promotions came at a regular cadence, and tenure often led to more senior roles and responsibilities.

That time is long gone.

Tenure doesn’t guarantee advancement, and junior employees often manage more experienced ones. People get laid off after decades with a company.

While even the highest performers can be laid off when priorities shift, a compelling way to increase the chances of being promoted into more exciting and higher paying roles—and to decrease the chance of being selected for a layoff—is to deliver meaningful value.

3. Old Rule: The person with the best legal skills is the best in-house lawyer.
New Rule: Legal skills are table stakes; the most effective in-house lawyers aren’t just lawyers, they’re creative business partners.

Great legal skills are necessary. But they’re not enough.

In-house lawyers operate at the intersection of law, strategy, and execution. The best ones understand the business, anticipate needs, and help solve problems before they become legal issues.

They learn to spot and balance risks. And instead of saying no, when a proposed course of action is legally problematic, they find alternative paths to the same goal.

If you want to lead and influence, do more than just sharpen your legal skills. Develop your business judgment, communication, and creativity too. That’s what sets great in-house lawyers apart.

4. Old Rule: Pick a ten-year goal and commit to it.
New Rule: Goals are good. So is flexibility.

Having a vision for your future is helpful. It gives you direction, motivates you, and helps you prioritize. And people who set and write down their goals are more likely to achieve them than people who don’t.

But rigidly sticking to a long-term plan, especially in today’s fast-changing world, can close you off to unexpected opportunities. And it can make setbacks feel worse.

Some of the best career moves you’ll make won’t be on your original roadmap. New roles emerge. Interests evolve. Life happens. Personally, my career has looked nothing like the 5- and 10-year plans I described during OCI.

Set goals. Pursue them with intention. But stay open to recalibrating when new information or opportunities come your way.

Adaptability is a strategic advantage that may open you up to opportunities you didn’t even know existed when you crafted your 10-year plan,

5. Old Rule: Let your work speak for itself.
New Rule: Speak for your work—advocate for your impact, or others may not see it.

Doing great work matters. But assuming that others will notice it, understand its significance, and reward you accordingly is a risky bet, especially in a fast-moving, cross-functional environment.

Your colleagues and leaders are busy. They’re focused on their own goals and challenges. If you don’t actively communicate your contributions and the impact of your work, there’s a good chance it will be overlooked.

This doesn’t mean self-promotion for its own sake. It means framing your work in terms of outcomes and business value, and making sure the right people understand how you’re moving the needle.

If you don’t advocate for your impact, no one else will do it for you.*

*Except for your boss. Your boss can and should communicate your impact to the broader team and do what they can to make sure you are appreciated and rewarded for it. If you are a boss, do this for your team!

6. Old Rule: If you’re busy, you’re indispensable.
New Rule: Being strategic and focused makes you indispensable. Busyness is not a badge of honor.

It’s easy to equate a packed calendar and long hours with value. Especially for in-house lawyers transitioning from law firms, where more hours did mean more value.

But staying constantly busy doesn’t necessarily signal effectiveness. Sometimes it signals a lack of focus or prioritization.

In-house lawyers who make the biggest impact are the ones who understand what matters most, protect their time, and focus their energy where it moves the business forward.

Being busy is reactive. Sometimes it’s unavoidable, but it’s not a win or a sign of impact.

Being strategic is intentional.

Don’t aim to be the busiest person in the room. Aim to be the one whose work matters most.

7. Old Rule: Stay in your lane.
New Rule: Cross-functional thinking and collaboration increase impact and make both you and your peers in other departments more effective. 

In-house lawyers who limit themselves to legal issues miss opportunities to drive broader business value. The most effective lawyers lean in across functions, understand how the business operates, and build strong relationships beyond the legal team.

When you understand the goals, constraints, and incentives of your colleagues in product, sales, finance, or ops, you can offer smarter advice and often spot legal issues before they escalate.

Collaboration lets you become a true business partner; it’s not overstepping.

Don’t stay in your lane. Expand your perspective—and your influence.

Knowing the “rules” matters; but knowing which ones to ignore is just as important

Are there unspoken professional rules that you’ve benefitted from?

What about ones you ignore because they no longer serve you?

Let me know by hitting reply. I read every response.