10 success tips from Justice Julia Sebutinde

I want to warmly welcome you to this memorable evening. A special welcome to the VIPs and members of my family who no doubt, have taken precious time out of your busy schedules to share in our celebration.

As I was preparing what I would say tonight, I considered sharing something that would be interesting and beneficial to my colleagues in the legal profession. I could tell you about the wonderful educational institutions that I went to or the rare career opportunities that I have had or the exciting assignments that I have carried out, but that would probably be most boring. So I thought that I would instead share some of the lessons that I have learnt on life’s journey, with the hope that these may perhaps help one or two of you in your own journey through life. I would like to briefly share with you 10 lessons that have helped me succeed in life.

1. Be visionary: Have a clear vision of what you want to do with your life. Every successful career begins with a decision of what you want to be or to do with your life, goals that you want to achieve, short-term, mid-term, long-term. It must be your vision and not that of your parents, peers or spouse because ultimately it’s you who will have to bring it to reality. Without a vision for your life you will easily drift through life, resentful and feeling as if you are simply existing and life has short-changed you.

2. Be resourceful: Make the most of the opportunities and resources that life has given you. In a given position, take time to gather all the skills, knowledge, experience that the position offers. There is no such thing as useless skill or experience. Gathering skills and experience often entails spending several years in the same line of work. Remember that a rolling stone never gathers moss! In my experience I consider a minimum of three to five years in the same line of work absolutely necessary. The experience I have gathered in all these positions is the foundation upon which I am now building further my career at the ICJ. Also look for opportunities to improve your qualifications. As you polish your skills and consolidate your experience, keep your eyes open for opportunities for upward mobility.

3. Be daring: Life is about taking risks, and having the faith and courage to follow your dreams through. Don’t be afraid to take risks. I particularly want to challenge you lady lawyers to start your own private practice, rather than seeking to be hired by your male colleagues. Remember they had the same opportunities and training as you. Some of you even got better grades. I know that there is the issue of entandikwa! Let several of you get together and set up a firm to reckon with in the city! After you set it up, start by charging the most competitive fees in town and make sure your services to your clients are premier class! Within five years I guarantee you will be a firm to reckon with! Think outside the box of looking to be employed by someone all the time!

4. Be tenacious: You need not be an intellectual genius to succeed in this life. You simply need to work hard and to diligently pursue your dream with unwavering courage, fortitude, steadfastness and tenacity. You see there is a big crowd of enemies waiting to see you fail and sometimes actively working to pull you down. If you are not tenacious you may easily give up. Let no one despise you on account of your age, gender, tribe, race or any other stereotype out there. 30 years ago if someone had told me that a young girl from a humble family in Kiwafu Village in Entebbe would one day be the first African female judge in the World Court, I would probably think they are crazy! By the way, speaking of tenacity, I do not consider that I have reached the pinnacle of my career yet. There are still one or two dreams on my “Bucket List” which, God willing will one day come to pass!

5. Be ambitious: In everything you do strive for excellence! If you want to leave your mark in life you cannot afford to settle for mediocrity. Do not do something simply because “everybody does it” or do it a certain way just because “that’s the way everybody does it.” In practical terms it may mean that as a lawyer you prepare better before going to court, you are one of the few punctual lawyers in court even when the judge is late!

6. Be discerning: It is important in life to focus on those things that matter most. For example, in a job, money is not everything. There are other considerations such as job-satisfaction, opportunities for scholarships, exposure and experience. While we all long for well-paying jobs, you must accept that you may have to start with humble beginnings and that instead, the skills and experience you acquire from this seemingly poor-paying job are priceless! Money is good and I applaud those of you who have worked hard and earned good wealth. The danger of making money your objective is that after a while, it will surely choke and overtake your dream and vision.

7. Be resilient: In life, ugly things happen. You may meet situations where you suffer racial, gender, tribal, religious or other kinds of prejudices. Believe you me, prejudice comes in as many shades as the colours of the rainbow with those who reckon themselves higher up the pecking order, lording it over those they reckon are lower down. Are we to allow these prejudices to stand in our way? Of course not! Through sheer resilience, you can face up to such challenges and instead of wallowing in self pity you can choose to turn those mill-stones into stepping stones to success.

8. Be humble: Arrogant people tend to rub everyone the wrong way. On the other hand, there is nothing that impresses me more than people who are high achievers and yet remain humble. In today’s Uganda where we get all kinds of celebrities, [class A, B, C etc.] humble people are endangered species! Humility simply means learning to keep your success in perspective. Remember you are neither the first nor the last to reach where you are!

9. Self-Critique: For one to grow in one’s career, you must learn periodically to audit your performance. Take stock of your achievements, failures, short-comings etc. with a view to identifying those areas that need improvement. We all tend to stagnate at times. I usually take my birthday or the beginning of a new year or a new job, to take stock of my life and if necessary to realign my bearings.

It has helped me to keep growing and not to stagnate. Consider, for example, taking a refresher course or actively look for new openings by way of job adverts in the newspapers or the internet.

10. Worship: Honour God and honour your profession by serving your fellow man faithfully. I believe the majority of us here do believe in a power higher than ourselves. If I stood here today and told you that I have achieved all these successes in my own strength, I would be the greatest liar. When you honour God he not only guides your choices but he also blesses and rewards your efforts.

In my line of work, I never walk into a courtroom trusting in my own abilities. I pray and ask God to give me “the wisdom of Solomon” (i.e. knowing what to do in a particular situation); to grant me favour amongst my peers and to walk with me each day.

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