Surround Yourself With Good People

The most successful corporate leaders I have known attribute their success to “surrounding myself with good people.” Early on, I wrote this self-effacing line off to false humility. I believed institutional success was the result of creative and visionary leaders.

In retrospect, I was wrong.

And they were right.

Steven Jobs, the most visionary business leader of a generation, once said, “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”

Indeed.

The least successful business leaders with whom I worked retained me and then wasted a lot of my time, and theirs, telling me how to do my job, questioning every decision I made even though I had decades of experience advising businesses in a very narrow and specialized area of the law.

The most successful leaders, on the other hand, did their research, and then, after spending time face to face, hired experts and deferred to their judgments. They felt free to ask any questions at any time, and did, but they didn’t micromanage or second guess. They bought the ticket and took the ride. They depended on good people to deliver desired results.

Admittedly, there is nothing profound in these observations . . .

Until overlayed on life outside work where, I suggest, the same truths apply.

Just as hiring good people is a key to success in business, I have found associating with good people is essential to being successful in one’s personal life. I don’t mean necessarily finding smarter people, but rather, better people. Indeed, being topically informed and sounding like a walking, talking front page of the New York Times, is neither necessary or helpful. The best people don’t want to be the smartest person in the room. They want to learn from those who are.

The best people don’t discuss other people, events, or things. They don’t try to belittle you, embarrass you, or criticize you in front of anyone else. Rather, they discuss ideas, and effective, ethical principles of living, of making each day better than the last, not only for themselves, but for those they touch.

The best people are often silent. They are comfortable being alone. When they are with others, they listen intently, ask insightful questions, not to make their point, but simply to understand. Their goal is not to lead or persuade, although they often do.

They do not view themselves as teachers of life, but as perpetual students. They want to learn, from anyone and everyone, and they recognize the most valuable learnings come not from the heads of others, but from their hearts.

The best people are always polite but have little time for those who are strident, self-congratulatory, pompous, unwilling to listen, or manipulative.

Most importantly, the best people are kind, generous, empathetic and compassionate. They have a unique ability to put themselves into the minds and hearts of others.

They may or may not be smart from being highly educated and articulate, but they are always wise, modest and disarming.

People listen. To them.

We learn. From them.

We want. To be around them.

And we become better by knowing them.

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