​I remember when I first joined a major law firm from industry and was struck by the offices full of rows and rows of lawyers - and nobody else.
 
The structure of a law firm (or indeed other professional practice) with its ranks of trainees, associates and partners tends to mean that the whole focus of the firm is on the law (or other professional discipline) and its practitioners.
 
There is nothing wrong with this of course, but it does make it harder to learn from other professionals because there is less exposure to anything outside the law. It can sometimes even lead to a sort of almost inward looking professional arrogance, an assumption that lawyers or consultants or whoever by definition have all the answers. 
 
By contrast  in a commercial company or other large organisation things are very different and the in house lawyers are heavily outnumbered by the sales teams, the delivery teams, the project teams and the financial department with all its accountants and tax experts. Consequently as a professional in industry it is impossible to avoid working closely with these other disciplines.
 
That means a greater awareness of the expertise of others and being exposed to the opportunity to learn from say a financial adviser or from a project director and to bring their approach and ability into the practice of the professional.
 
Just as footballers might learn balance and flexibility from gymnastics or even pilates or yoga so I suggest professionals like lawyers and consultants can and should look to learn from other disciplines. 

I came across a great question during the week. "What's your reason for being on this planet?"

Obviously interesting to a philosopher, but it made me think of goal setting in a business and indeed private context as well.

In his seminal book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People Stephen R Covey's Second Habit (after being proactive) is "To begin with the end in mind". This means "to begin each day, task, or project with a clear vision of your desired direction and destination".

And if you read into this subject more it is not just about a daily plan but a life plan that he has in mind. A "Personal Mission Statement" for your existence on this planet.

It may be your goal is to get rich quick, or to have a long and happy life, or to raise and support a family, or to be a great public servant. Whatever it is having thought about and identified what it is and then articulated it forms a very sound foundation for working life as a busy professional. Here's a good article on setting life goals.

Returning to the words of wisdom of Mr Covey: "Your mission statement makes you the leader of your own life. You create your own destiny and secure the future you envision."

In other words having an overall life plan puts daily triumphs and disasters into perspective and enables us better to manage work and create a work life balance. 

In this age of instant communication with its associated stress and pressure I propose that having a sense of overall direction forms a bedrock for business and personal success.

In the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy the main characters spend a long time seeking the ruler of the universe. When they find him, he turns out to be an innocuous man living in a small shack on a world that can only be reached with a key to an unprobability field. He does not want to rule the universe and tries not to whenever possible - and therefore is by far the ideal candidate for the job.

What he also does is question everything taking nothing for granted. He lives alone with his cat, which he has named "The Lord", but he is not even certain of its existence. He rules everybody and doubts everything.

A questioning attitude is one of the essential assets of a professional. Finding out what lies behind the words, what is truly intended, is necessary and not always easy. Sometimes it means asking the dumb or stupid question and understanding say technical or financial fields beyond your normal competency. But until you understand something you cannot articulate or express it or advise properly on it.

It's about an attitude of drilling down and double checking every hypothesis until the intention and meaning is clear. Science and philosophy work on this basis and so should professional advisers. To take law as an  example, it's very easy to Google a legal question on the Internet and find some surface answer in a blog or article. But the real law will reside not there but in cases and in statutes or regulations. The true position requires looking at the true sources.

​And the irony is when you get there the answer may not be clear even then! Somebody once said that a true expert is one who understands how little he or she really knows. As Douglas Adams writes "The ruler of the Universe dozed lightly in his chair. After a while he played with the pencil and the paper again and was delighted when he discovered how to make a mark with the one on the other. Various noises continued outside, but he didn’t know whether they were real or not. He then talked to his table for a week to see how it would react."

This week we have witnessed one of the most unlikely, entertaining and popular victories when Leicester City as 5000 to 1 rank outsiders won the Premier League in England for the first time in their long history beating major clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United.

It is a fantastic achievement and yet winning is a strange thing and sometimes not what you expect. I have won and lost sporting events throughout my life. Losing is a pain but at least it prompts further effort to avoid losing again. Winning is euphoric at the time -  winning rowing regattas we would end up in the river and celebrate with beer and silverware.

And yet if I am honest there is also a strange sense of anti-climax. You have achieved what you have been striving to all year. What happens next? Success is hard to sustain for ever and so the future may be rather downhill.

In fact victory in sport or in business where a deal is successfully concluded or a new client won should be just the start of sustained improvement. By analysing what went right and led to winning as opposed to agonising about what went wrong if you lose the success can be maintained and lead to more. There are always reasons for winning if you look for them.

In Leicester's case it was maybe the right (slightly overlooked) players working for a manager who built a strong defence and a team ethos. 

So for me in professional services the "Leicester lesson" is that after celebrating look for what went well in the transaction or task. Was it teamwork, leadership, preparation and maybe even some good fortune? Understanding and articulating these success factors and then applying them again if you can are what will make success in business as well as in sport a permanent feature and not just a  one off event.