18 Things To Learn From Harvey Specter Of Suits Mar 8, 2013 | Articles

18 Things To Learn From Harvey Specter Of Suits 4.71 (94.24%) 1358 votes

Harvey Specter is a fucking bad-ass. For those of you who don’t know, Harvey Specter (played by Gabriel Macht) is a senior partner from the fictional law firm Pearson Hardman, in the critically acclaimed law drama on the USA Network – Suits. Yes, the show is pretty enjoyable. It’s smart and thrilling, but there’s more to the show than just entertainment. I’ve actually managed to pick up tips for success in business and life in general, by watching the ways of Harvey Specter.

1. Win your battles before they’ve even been fought – Harvey likes to win his cases outside of court because going to court is expensive. Just like with anything else, if you can find an option that allows you to win your battles without actually having to go to war, take it.

2. Be a risk taker – If you never take any chances, I guarantee you will have a dull, boring and shitty life.

3. Don’t try to lose small, try to win big – This is one of those glass half empty or glass half full kinda things. If you frame your mind in a way that always looks to minimize your losses, you’re never going to make it big in life.

4. Take control of and own your responsibilities – Harvey brought Mike on board so he knows that if Mike screws up, it’s on him. You choose your behaviour, so you choose your consequences.

5. Following every single rule gets you nowhere – If you’re not willing to break the rules once in a while, you’re going to be at a huge disadvantage. By following the rules every single time, you’re only letting your competition get ahead by being naive enough to believe that they will do the same.

6. Play the man, not the odds – If you structure your life in a way that only uses logic, 99% of the time you’re going to come up short. Anybody can play the odds. Anybody can use logic to try and sell a product, land a client or create a business. It’s those who know how to adjust their strategies based on the emotional intelligence gathered from others, who will come up on top.

7. Appearances are important – Understand that the way you look has a direct impact on the way others perceive you. First impressions are everything and the way you present yourself to a prospective employer or client has everything to do with whether or not they choose you.

8. The success of your client is a success of yours – This is straight forward enough. Your goal shouldn’t be to make your client happy, your goal should be to make them succeed.

9. Master the art of reading people – Harvey Specter plays poker on his off days. Maybe that’s how he learned to be so good at reading people. It’s an important skill to have. People around you are always giving out tiny signals and if you are able to catch them and use them to your advantage, you will be extremely successful in business. Learn to predict what others are going to do before they actually do it.

10. Be cool and keep your composure – Be cool even in tough situations. Keeping your composure during difficult times allows others to have confidence in you.

11. Do what you have to do – “Sometimes the good guys gotta do bad things to make the bad guys pay.”

12. Have interests and hobbies outside of work – I don’t know about you but I want that vinyl record collection he has in his office.

13. There’s no such thing as lying to protect someone -“Lying to me doesn’t protect me. It betrays me.”

14. Sometimes being cocky is okay – If you’re good at what you do, there’s no reason you can’t brag about it.

15. Study, learn and know your competition – You always have to be one step ahead.

16. Don’t think like a rookie even if you are one – Everyone has to start somewhere, but that doesn’t mean you can’t open your mind up to think like a veteran.

17. Don’t waste time trying to explain the problem, fix it instead – When you come across a problem, people appreciate it more when you spend your time wisely, trying to fix the problem rather than reporting the issues to someone else (like your boss). In the time constrained society that we live in today, every second counts and a second spent talking rather than doing is a second wasted.

18. Don’t wear a damn skinny tie to work – Seriously, just dont.

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