Good (and Bad) Apples
Someone once told me (and I’ve now told lots of people) that you’ve got to surround yourself with successful people if you’re going to increase your own chances of success. Notice that I didn’t say that surrounding yourself with successful people will make you a success — only that it may increase your chances. I’m right, trust me on this.
Something interesting happens when you surround yourself with “awesome” people. When you start associating with these badasses, you’ll undoubtedly finding that you’re going to continue to meet even more badasses! In contrast, when you start associating with “sub-awesome” folks, you’ll probably find that they tend to associate with “sub-awesome” and “sub-sub-awesome” folks who then will probably associate with “sub-sub-awesome” and “sub-sub-sub-awesome” folks. I think you get the picture.
By now, you’re probably wondering what really defines this “awesome” person that we all want to hang out with. Unfortunately, there’s no single (or easy) answer to this. I’ve found that you’re probably looking for someone that is rapidly moving up in their particular industry, has some great communication abilities and/or seems to actively want to help people that are willing to listen.
It’s also important to keep in mind that you need to be careful not to surround yourself with people that only want to leech off of your successes or even waste your time in other manners. If you surround yourself with awesome people — the kind that are honest, hard working and striving to be the best they can be — you’re on the right track.
Update: Roman Rytov has a great blog post about how to find a mentor at work.
January 5th, 2007 at 11:36 am
Just be wary of people who define success as “making a lot of money.” In our society, defining success in that way is epidemic. Discounting someone as “sub-awesome” because they are not rapidly advancing in their career, and thus eliminating them from your life, can lead to a less well-rounded group of friends. Suddenly everyone in your life thinks the same way as you, finds the same things interesting and important, does the same things, and then what do you have? Groupthink and (unfounded) elitism.
Franz Kakfa, one of the most fascinating writers of the 20th century, was only a marginally successful insurance officer during his lifetime. Would he have been worth associating with?
January 6th, 2007 at 12:09 am
Ginger, I’m with you 100%. However, my intention for this particular post was purely in the “business” world and not within anyone’s personal life. Sorry for the confusion!
I’ve actually been giving two people some advice lately (I know! Why are they asking me?!) about how to advance their professional careers and the gist of what I told them was to try to find good professional mentors and surround themselves with people like that.
January 9th, 2007 at 11:43 am
Amen Ginger, and Paul.. you can’t find success in your professional life if you can’t find it in your personal life. They’re asking you for advice because they see something you have that they think they don’t.
Obviously, you know something they don’t. The reason you got this success is because you did things in your personal and professional life that caused everything else to blossom. Repeat after me, you cannot succeed in business if you can’t succeed in your personal life. And success is all relevant.
Lately I’ve been listening to people who don’t make as much money as myself, and I’m noticing my life improving, professionally they aren’t where I want to be, but they are emotionally.