Law360 Canada (May 15, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT) --

Norm Bowley

“Qui cum canibus concumbunt cum pulicibus sargent,” thus (perhaps) said Seneca: “If you lie down with dogs, you’ll arise with fleas.”

The American speaker and thought leader Jim Rohn gave it a different slant, no less true: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

As professionals, we miss this point at our peril, but it’s as simple as this: if you conduct your business or calling in a setting of mediocrity or indifference, you will never become great. Even being the biggest gorilla in the jungle still only means you’re just a gorilla.

A common mistake for young lawyers is to say to themselves something like this: “If I sign up with a firm with a nice office and minimum cost and risk, I’ll work hard and build my own practice no matter what.” This is a mistake.

Where you have a prima donna in the office to your left and an old hack in the office to your right, a wild-eyed maniac in the office across the hall, a doomsayer across the table at the weekly meeting, and a managing partner who cracks the whip on numbers and frankly doesn’t give a tinker’s damn how you make the monthly nut, you’ll quickly become frazzled and disillusioned. And when you’re frazzled and disillusioned, you will never become great, nor will you ever make serious money or experience the joy of excellence in your profession. It’s as simple as that.

An ornithologist tried an experiment with his beautiful singing canary. He put the melodious, trilling, golden bird in a large cage with a dozen sparrows, hoping his special bird would teach the sparrows to sing. As you would guess, the canary learned to chirp.

The truth about professional collaboration, just as in pursuing excellence in sport, is to associate yourself with players who are better than you and happy to share their excellence and excitement with you. Professionals who love the game and see their team as an extension of their own passion are the people with whom you must associate. Such people will draw you forward like a magnet.

Sometimes you’ll be tempted by a firm run by a super-manager, the guy with the formula calculated to reward everyone precisely according to their contributions, a veritable human computer. Don’t buy it. Yes, any business needs smart management, but that’s the tail that shouldn’t wag the dog. You wouldn’t buy a car based on your admiration for the steering wheel.

As I’ve often written, the single greatest contributor to your success is your reputation, so it’s no surprise that the single most important factor in your professional practice arrangement is how that setting contributes to or detracts from your reputation. And this happens in the setting of a team of winners, not the Tuesday night pickup team.

You only have one professional life to — spend it well.

Norm Bowley practised law in Ottawa for 37 years. Before retiring, his practice focused on high-net-worth individuals and families, particularly entrepreneurs and professionals. In “retirement,” Norm writes extensively, speaks, coaches and consults, and if there’s any spare time, maintains a bit of acreage on the Tay River. His upcoming book, The Lawyer and the Dropouts: Stunning insights about professional success and happiness, is expected later in 2026.

The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author’s firm, its clients, Law360 Canada, LexisNexis Canada or any of its or their respective affiliates. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.

Interested in writing for us? To learn more about how you can add your voice to Law360 Canada, contact Analysis Editor Peter Carter at peter.carter@lexisnexis.ca or call 647-776-6740.