Judge William Dawson has spent the last year impacting a multitude of young people’s lives from his courtroom bench. He has passionately guided and instructed them on how to use better judgment to position themselves for a successful career and life. One of the top reasons many young adults fail to achieve career success is because “many of them are dealing with the pressure to be cool rather than smart,†Dawson says.
From Dawson’s view, it often becomes difficult for young adults to manage their careers due to insurmountable peer pressure and the lack of exposure to success. Therefore, Dawson believes that early careerists must make wise decisions and proactively take control of their career. The 41 year-old Judge admits that he made some mistakes back in his youth days due to poor judgment; however, he ultimately embraced and adhered to his mother’s wisdom.
Dawson has branded himself as a “Cycle Breaker†because through his courtroom platform, empowerment workshops, and Facebook page he shows students how to break negative cycles that could diminish their ability to develop an accomplished career.
Dawson shares his courtroom wisdom below on how you can enhance your career judgment as a young professional:
Limit your excuses. “The top excuses I hear from young people are that: 1.) Someone (mother, father, friend, ect.) didn’t do something for them and 2.) everybody else is doing it,” Dawson says. “These excuses simply demonstrate one’s failure to take personal responsibility, which is a failure to recognize their self-worth and true potential.â€
Stay committed to your education. “If I could turn back the hands of time I would study harder so that I could get into the best schools. Schools are like real estate where location/destination does have its benefits,†Dawson says. Invest wisely in your education because many opportunities will become available to the top students.
Take personal responsibility for your career and empower others. Career responsibility is extremely important and should be taken seriously. “This means you must be responsible for where you go in your career, as a result of your successes and failures,†says Dawson. He also believes that, “successful people must take the responsibility to help others because too many people gain status and refuse to give concrete career advice to young professionals. But I personally feel that I have an obligation to share all my talents and information with the world.â€
Wisely bounce back from career mishaps. Sometimes mistakes and career failures are inevitable. “The best way to bounce back from bad career decisions is to make the best out of any and every situation,” Dawson says. “One element of making the best out of the situation is not letting the mistake destroy future possibilities. If you have to leave a job or change a career, do it without destroying relationships. Relationships are everything.â€
Antoine Moss, Ph.D., (@2PositiveTweets) is a nationally recognized resource on internships, early career achievement, leadership and motivation. CEO and founder of CEO Style Consulting L.L.C., Moss empowers professionals and organizations to reach their full potential, and serves as speaker, workshop instructor and consultant. The author of Learn to Intern CEO Style, Moss has been a featured expert on outlets including Fox 8 TV News and George Fraser’s 2011 Power Networking Conference.