The Competency Mindset: How to Build Skills That Last a Career

In the legal profession, skills are not just tools for the present—they are the foundation for a long and successful career. However, skill-building is often approached as a box-ticking exercise, especially when it comes to compliance requirements like the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Competency Framework.

This approach misses a crucial opportunity. Instead of viewing competencies as obligations, they can be seen as opportunities—a roadmap that guides lawyers in becoming not just competent but exceptional professionals. This perspective is what I call the Competency Mindset. It represents a commitment to long-term skill development that goes beyond fulfilling requirements and instead builds a career rooted in adaptability, reflection, and continuous growth.

Why does this mindset matter? The legal profession operates in a fast-paced and constantly evolving environment. New technologies, regulatory changes, and shifting client expectations mean that the skills required today may not be sufficient tomorrow. Lawyers who focus solely on immediate tasks without considering their long-term growth risk falling behind.

The Competency Mindset ensures that you are always growing and adapting. It emphasizes adaptability, encouraging you to evaluate your skills regularly, identify gaps, and take steps to address them. It centers reflection, focusing on understanding what you have learned, where you have succeeded, and what areas require improvement. Finally, it highlights client focus, reminding us that the best lawyers are not only technically proficient but also skilled at understanding and meeting client needs.

By adopting the Competency Mindset, you are not just meeting compliance requirements. You are setting yourself up for a fulfilling and resilient career.

For solicitors in England and Wales, the SRA Competency Framework serves as a guide to professional development. Divided into areas like ethics, technical legal practice, managing oneself, and working with others, the framework is not merely about what you know but about how you apply that knowledge. It challenges lawyers to reflect on their experiences, identify new learning opportunities, and integrate those lessons into their practice.

One common mistake is to treat the competency framework as a compliance task that needs to be completed and filed away. This checkbox mentality overlooks the dynamic and interconnected nature of competencies. To engage with the framework meaningfully, reflection must become a habit. After completing a case, take the time to evaluate what went well, what could have gone better, and what lessons you can carry forward. Reflection should not be reserved for formal reviews but should be an ongoing practice.

It is also essential to link learning to real experiences. Instead of attending training sessions just to meet a requirement, consider how the content relates to your work and how you can apply what you learn to improve your practice. Focus on building transferable skills such as communication, time management, and teamwork, as these are valuable across all aspects of your career.

Connecting compliance to value is another key step. Rather than seeing compliance as an obligation, view it as an opportunity to demonstrate your growth. Use your competency record as a way to showcase how you are evolving as a professional and adding value to your clients and your firm.

Compliance, when approached with the Competency Mindset, becomes a powerful tool for growth. Regular audits and reviews help ensure you stay on track with your development goals. Frameworks like the SRA Competency Statement provide structure for identifying and addressing skill gaps. Compliance activities also encourage self-assessment, giving you an opportunity to reflect on your practice. A strong compliance record, in turn, demonstrates your commitment to maintaining high professional standards, which is valuable to clients, colleagues, and employers.

To adopt the Competency Mindset, start by setting specific goals for your professional development. Identify the skills you want to build and tie these goals to real-world tasks or challenges to make them actionable. Engage in reflective practice by using tools like journals, team debriefs, or mentoring sessions to regularly evaluate your progress. Actively seek feedback from colleagues, clients, and mentors to uncover blind spots and identify growth opportunities.

Training should go beyond technical skills and include reflective practice, case studies, and group discussions that encourage deep engagement with the material. Monitor your progress using the SRA Competency Framework or a similar tool, and celebrate your successes while adjusting your approach as needed.

The legal profession is at a crossroads. Advances in technology, increasing client expectations, and a growing focus on well-being mean that lawyers must be more than technically competent. They need to be adaptable, empathetic, and forward-thinking. The Competency Mindset provides a roadmap for navigating this changing landscape. By focusing on long-term skill-building, reflective practice, and meaningful engagement with compliance, lawyers can ensure they are not just keeping up with the profession but leading it.

Building a successful legal career is not about collecting skills or ticking boxes. It is about creating a strong foundation that allows you to grow, adapt, and thrive over time. As you think about your professional development, consider whether you are approaching it with a checkbox mentality or embracing the Competency Mindset. The choice is yours, but your future clients, colleagues, and career will thank you for making the right one.