Why corporate counsel must step up beyond the office to advance their careers

For early- and mid-career lawyers, Cropley warned of the common tendency to become overly focused on climbing the ranks, assuming that excelling at their jobs alone will bring satisfaction, but she stressed that true fulfilment often comes from looking beyond mere career advancement.

“Particularly early- to mid-career professionals, I think that there can be a tendency to be really tunnel vision about what you’re trying to achieve in your career,” she said.

“Like if you’re in private practice, you want to sort of move up the ranks through associate, then senior associate, and the likes of. But you can be great at your job, and love your job, but also feel unfulfilled.”

Cropley shared that one of the most powerful ways to bridge the gap between thriving in your career and still feeling something is missing is for corporate lawyers to roll up their sleeves and actively volunteer in their communities.

“So there can be something that you’re going, OK, my career is actually going from strength to strength, but there’s that something missing,” she said.

“I think that volunteering for any organisation can be one way of filling that gap to lead to overall fulfilment, just not just in your specific job.”

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While many might overlook the benefits of volunteering, Cropley pointed out that stepping outside the nine-to-five and taking on work unrelated to your usual tasks can spark creativity and innovative thinking, often in ways that unexpectedly enrich your daily work.

“By doing that, you’re giving yourself the opportunity to flex your brain in a way that you don’t do in your nine-to-five role,” she said.

“The benefits that have to do with your brain in terms of unlocking creativity, innovative thinking, all those kinds of things, you could be doing something completely unrelated for this charity, but I bet you can find a link to how it actually can open you up in terms of your actual regular work.”

Cropley also emphasised that the chance to make a meaningful difference and support those who are disadvantaged – a role that volunteering in the local community can provide – lies at the very heart of why many lawyers enter the profession, bringing purpose and fulfilment that ties their work and values together.

“I definitely think that that is why a lot of lawyers end up in this profession, and also why they also choose other opportunities, like secondments or volunteering for local community services,” she said.

“It’s that act of being useful and being able to give back to those who can’t afford said legal services or are disadvantaged in some way, so I think it all ties in very succinctly together.”