#CafeConLourdes: Interview with Tom Trujillo

I know most people probably start this kind of answer with “I’m a lawyer and I work at such and such a place…” But what comes to mind for me is I am an incredibly lucky father, husband, brother, and friend, with an incredible family and close friends. I also happen to be a lawyer 🙂 I grew up in a small town called Redford Township, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. I am of Mexican and Polish decent. As the youngest of 15 children, I didn’t have a lot of money or “things” growing up, but I grew up with an appreciation for what we did have and a drive and work ethic that has paid dividends through the years.

For me, the most crucial parts of my success are: 1) being willing to take chances, and 2) learning from others. Many times throughout my career, I’ve been offered the chance to try totally new things. It would have been easy to turn these down as being out of my comfort zone. But I chose the opposite path. I love to learn and grow, and these new opportunities provided me with a chance to do just that. It can be daunting at times — doing things you’ve never done, or in fact, no one has ever done — but it’s overcoming those reservations and trusting in yourself that is key. But this is where #2 comes into play: learn from others. While I am the first to admit I’ve made my own mistakes and had my own success along the way, it’s learning from what others have done or advice they have to give that has made a huge difference in my career.  There’s a phrase I’ve heard in some of the coaching/development work I have done:  “success leaves clues”. So I try to learn from others as often as I can.

Wow, this is a tough question, because there are many, many things I could list. But here are a couple:  1) As a young lawyer at a law firm in Detroit, I had the privilege of working for a partner at the firm — John Dudley– who trusted me to help try a case with him for an important client. While I thought the biggest lesson I would learn would be the technical and other skills that come with being a trial lawyer, I was wrong. I certainly did learn those things. But the biggest lesson John taught me was how to be the person you want to be, even in the adversarial setting of trial work. John was not short on intellect or talent  — but even more so, he was rich in compassion, demeanor, authenticity, and positive human nature. He taught me that you don’t have to be a blunt instrument to be successful as a lawyer or a leader. Don’t get me wrong — you have to be ready to have the tough conversations, and you need to be willing to tackle difficult situations head on. But you have multiple tools in your tool chest, not just the blunt instrument. So be mindful when you choose which tool to use and why. 2) As I mentioned above, I came from a big family and we didn’t have money. But I learned that we had opportunity and you can’t expect someone to hand things to you. You have to go out and get it. I took that lesson to heart, as I worked to pay my way through undergrad and law school, and as I traversed through my career. I never assumed it was anyone’s job but my own to move myself forward. Don’t get me wrong — I have had some great mentors and no ever does this truly all on their own — but you can’t sit back and wait for it, you have to make it happen.

I think it’s really the culmination of all the things — whether it was a a lawyer leading global legal and business teams; being and innovator and leader in the legal ops space; or helping to develop talented leaders — all of these things have been great to accomplish. I can’t say I had this perfect plan of exactly how my career would turn out. But I had a plan that I would take on new things and work as hard as I possibly could, and as a result, I’ve had a lot of great opportunities and made the most of them. At the same time, I’ve tried to do what John Dudley taught me — to not lose touch with my humanity, to reach whatever success i can in the manner consistent with my values. The success would be empty otherwise.

This is a really tricky question. I think cultural assimilation has to be a two-way street. As a professional, I know that the places in which I work have their “culture”, and there are norms that are expected in terms of how to behave, how to interact with people, or “how to be a lawyer”. But that is not where the conversation ends — each of us, through our own backgrounds, experiences, and ethnic heritage — bring unique things to the table. The work environment needs to be one that allows for and embraces these differences — to assimilate to us too.