The Scales of Success: Constructions of Life-Career Success of Eminent Men and Women Lawyers

H. Graham Rawlinson is a corporate lawyer with the international law
firm Torys in Toronto. He is co-author of The Canadian 100: The 100 Most
Influential Canadians of the 20th Century.

Attempting to understand what top lawyers mean by “success” is the
fundamental purpose of this book. Why eminent lawyers? The author argues
that the private perspectives of influential and powerful middle-aged
lawyers at leading law firms offer a useful window into how our society
defines success. Her method is remarkable: in-depth, confidential
interviews with eight eminent lawyers, each exploring deeply private
motivations and aspirations. Relying on Robert Kegan’s
constructive-developmental model of human development, but grounding her
conclusions widely in the academic literature, the author concludes that
success for these lawyers is nuanced and dynamic, and springs most
generally from basic human instincts for independence and belonging.

This thoughtful and convincing argument runs contrary to conventional
wisdom that high achievers are successful because of a “linear,
unidirectional enterprise aimed at the attainment of wealth, power, and
prestige.” The Scales of Success will appeal to scholars of
developmental psychology, vocational psychology, and career development.