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Why Surrounding Yourself With Successful People Is Dumb

By crooky | November 9, 2008

I see a lot of business gurus telling people that the key to success is to surround yourself with successful people. Horseshit. That’s the key to being a leech. What’s the advantage of surrounding yourself with successful people? They’ll give, give, give to you. Right? Don’t you think that’s pretty transparent to these highly successful people? They’re bombarded with hangers-on. You don’t want to be one of the barnacles on the prow of their success. What you need to do is surround yourself with people who have the potential to be successful long-term. These are the kind of people with whom you can build mutually beneficially relationships.

I happen to be related to Jimmy Pattison (the Vancouver equivalent of Donald Trump). He has no idea who the hell I am. He knows my Grandmother well enough to invite her to the odd extended family function. That’s it. Sometimes when I tell people that I’m related to Jimmy Pattison, they say “Oh! You should call him up!” What the hell would I say to him? I have less to say to him that I do to my biological father (should I ever meet him). Wouldn’t I be better off to wait for him to notice me because of my accomplishments and want to meet me? If he’s not interested in me now, I don’t see what a phone call to his office would achieve now.

If I had something to offer him in terms of a business opportunity, that’s a different story. Then I’d approach him like anyone else I’d pitch a business idea to. The fact that we’re technically relatives isn’t something that would come up in that conversation. It’s not relevant. This brings me back to the key point of this posting - trying to get in Jimmy Pattison’s inner circle just because I want to bask in his glory isn’t going to do me any good. I’m going to look like a suck up.

I’ve gotten further in my consulting business by building up quality relationships with peers and people who are less experienced than myself. These are people who see mutual benefit to getting to know me. Sure, I can pass along work to some of these people but they’re also looking out for me. I have a core group of friends and colleagues that are always sending referrals and work ideas my way. These are the high value relationships in my life. I actually know some Vancouver elites but I don’t leverage those relationships. Doing so would denigrate what I’m trying to achieve.

At the end of the day, if your reputation as a professional isn’t based on the quality of your work, who you know is only going to get you so far. Reach out and find those people who will benefit from knowing you as much as you’ll benefit from knowing them. They might be a new graduate from university or they might be someone on the verge of retiring from their industry. I think the Obama campaign could teach us all a few lessons about how sucking up to the elite in your field isn’t always the right strategy.

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Topics: Business of Consulting |

2 Responses to “Why Surrounding Yourself With Successful People Is Dumb”

  1. Lorien Says:
    December 3rd, 2008 at 6:56 am

    Wow, thanks a lot for that great insight! I’ll keep it in mind as I begin the great networking process known as college. I agree, earning something is much more worthwhile in the end than leeching it off of someone else.

    In other news, I really like this blog! Added to my bookmarks. :)

  2. Crooky Says:
    December 3rd, 2008 at 1:30 pm

    Thanks Lorien.

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