In the same way that Mike Ross didn’t need to attend university to climb his way to the top of a prestigious law firm and acclimatize to a life of luxury, I argue that we mere mortals need not educate ourselves on the wide world through any medium other than the more-addictive-than-crack hit show about the boys and girls who have taken the corporate world (and television screens) by storm. Here are a few life lessons from Suits.
1. First Impressions Count
In season one, Mike Ross attempts to leave the office for the day but is reprimanded by Harvey Specter for doing so too early (it is 6:30 p.m.). He stands up to Harvey, accusing him of coming and going from the office as he pleases whilst Mike himself is forced to put in grueling hours at the firm. He informs Mike that the freedom that he has is hard earned, based on his flawless track record and his legendary performance status. Every step, especially the first one, adds to the way your colleagues perceive you, and every step counts towards the amount of respect you muster up, and the distance you’ll go in your work. Thanks Harvey.
2. Dress to Impress
The issue at hand is that people always have - and always will - judge others by their appearance. So rather than rebel against the aesthetics obsession that dominates human nature, why not make life easier for yourself and just go with it? Harvey wears a designer three-piece tailored suit. Always. Your attire is a projection of yourself, and it is all that strangers can judge you by. If you want to be taken seriously at Pearson Hardman, and in the world, you’ve got to dress to impress.
3. Apologize
We screw up. Hell, even Harvey Specter screws up sometimes. Daniel Hardman seems to be a decent bloke, despite the fact that he is a total hard-ball. As one of the senior partners of the firm, you'd expect him to be a stand up guy, but boy does he screw up. Even so, you’ve got to hand it to the guy, he owns up to his mistakes and takes each and every one on the shoulder like an absolute champ. When he returns to Pearson Hardman after his slight hiatus, he immediately comes clean to the staff, apologizes briefly but sincerely, and pushes on.
4. Take Responsibility
It is always better just to assume full responsibility at the time, or things tend to get messy. When Harvey took Mike on as his protégé, Harvey also took on a whole lot of responsibility. It was his decision to bring Mike, an entirely inexperienced and unqualified lawyer, into a prestigious firm, knowing that the law school dropout was inevitably going to make a few bad calls. But when those bad calls come back to bite them, Harvey willingly shares every consequence with Mike and takes full responsibility for Mike’s naivety in the corporate world.
5. Be Yourself
Cliché, and whatnot; but this is one of the hardest rules to learn in real life. It is much easier to copy others and just sheep around in the big, wide world. It comes as no surprise that a few times during the Suits seasons, Mike attempts a Harvey-transformation. Every time Mike attempts to Harvey-ise himself, by donning a wide tie, a sharp tongue, and an air of swagger, he ends up having a bad time. But when he relaxes into himself and lets his inner geek shine through, the guy actually becomes his own breed of awesome.
6. Enjoy the ride
I feel like Harvey and Mike enjoy the ride a whole lot more lavishly than is possible for us kids. They have New York City and the rest of the world at their fingertips and near bottomless pockets with which to make it rain. The pair of them put in the hard yards when working on a case, but after a victory, my god, do they know how to celebrate. Their parties are so insane and their lives so luxurious that I often find myself drooling and grinning over their antics.
7. Don't have dreams, have goals
This is awesome. Mostly because we get fed a whole heap of stuff about “dreaming big” and “reaching for the stars” when we are sitting cross legged during mat-time. We are always encouraged to imagine ourselves living out these impressive scenarios, but we are never informed on how to make these dreams a reality. Well guess what, Harvey Spector knows. He takes those dreams and labels them as goals instead. Harvey dreams of sailing a ten-foot yacht? Harvey re-labels that dream as a goal. Harvey buys himself a ten-foot yacht, a couple of sailing lessons, and away he goes. Ba-da-bing, ba-da boom.
