I am in between books right now, so I thought I might share something I learned at church on Sunday. It’s not necessarily a new concept, but it is a good reminder for those of us that are leading people. The whole sermon was about your inner circle and making sure you are paying attention to the people that are closest to you – in your personal life, but also in every aspect of your life, to include your business. Jim Rohn famously said, “You are the average of the 5 people closest to you.” And I wholeheartedly agree that the people in our lives help shape our norms and our reality, thereby having profound influence on who we become and what we build together.
In the Bible, Jesus talks about surrounding yourself with extraordinary people. In Proverbs 27, He says, “iron sharpens iron,” referring to who great people make each other better. There are numerous stories in the Bible depicting how Jesus displayed how important it was to be cognizant of and intentional about the people around you. He was in the “business” of executing miracles, and he knew that it wasn’t solely up to him to execute those miracles. There are multiple stories where he rid the room of people who didn’t believe, who didn’t exhibit a strong enough faith to witness the miracle. And as soon as he was surrounded only by those who were true believers, miracles happened.
The Business Application:
1. We first must humble ourselves and ensure we are personally in a position where we can recruit extraordinary people into our lives and not be something that makes us self-conscious. You want people working for you and around you that are better than you, especially in the areas at which you yourself do not excel. This will motivate you to grow and get better yourself.
2. Identify the traits that you believe create greatness – greatness in your company and also greatness in your life in general. Take a hard look at the people currently surrounding you and ensure they exhibit those traits of greatness.
3. Go and recruit those great people. Meet with people often and share you vision and purpose of your company. Evaluate if they are attracted to what you are creating; and if they exhibit those traits of greatness you seek, and they are attracted to your company, find a way to bring those people onto your team. One word of caution: when you bring new people in, naturally they will be attracted to the leader of the company – who is often the person who recruited them – but you, as a leader, ultimately need to transition the nexus of their excitement from you to the purpose of the company at large. If the whole value proposition for their employment is only you, it is very difficult to retain that person long-term. You need them to be genuinely excited about the vision and purpose of your company.
4. In Matthew 7, Jesus says not to share your secrets with those who don’t treasure them. If you are sharing your vision and your purpose, and someone is not excited about it, they are likely not a good fit for your team. Everyone must have a reason to be excited about the business they are in so they can give 100% effort to it. Of course, there are seasons in a business where you are not exactly excited about what you have to do; but in general, you should feel excited about the future of the company and where you are going, the people you are going to help, and how you are going to help them. When you identify with that vision, not only are you okay doing something in the short term that doesn’t excite you, you are furthermore going to be extremely motivated to go give it your all to move the company in the right direction.
5. In all aspects of your life, pay attention to your inner circle. If you are trying to achieve something extraordinary, it takes extraordinary people around you to help you achieve it and push you to be a better person.
