7 People You Need On Your Team

Ebola and isolation are used in the same sentence. When someone needs to be quarantined isolation is a stopgap. But it was never intended to be a way of life. Yet people — without even thinking about it — isolate themselves all the time. Isolation

• Limits potential
• Restricts capacity
• Lowers impact

Who are your allies, your mutual supporters? If you associate with the right people, you turn out right. On the other hand, the less you associate with some people, the faster you will grow.

“People are like dirt. They can either nourish you and help you grow, or they can stunt your growth and make you wilt.” Plato

• The lesser approach: choosing friends because of who they are.
• The greater approach: choosing friends because of who you want to become.

Here are 7 people you need on your team.

The Motivator:

They motivate you. They inspire you. Being around them makes the impossible seem practically inevitable. They know the incentives that matter to you and they bring them to your attention. They see your talents and competencies. Their presence – rather than draining you — energizes and enthuses you.

The Encourager:

They encourage you. They support and believe in you. They are your biggest fans.

“In prosperity our friends know us. In adversity we know our friends.” John Collins

Everybody needs a cheerleader – in good times and tough times.

The Questioner:

They question you. They are realists more than skeptics. They are called the Devils Advocate, but they are far from it. They are positive, but they understand the power of negative thinking — in small doses. The ancients understood the need to balance the positive with the negative. The Stoics talked about the “premeditation of evils.” The questioner brings realism to the plan, asks the hard questions, and helps you see important choice points. They want you to be as safe as you are successful.

“None of us is as smart as all of us.” Ken Blanchard

The Pusher:

They push you. They understand that discipline is essential for success. Self-discipline is the invisible magic behind those we label genius. A gift doesn’t come fully developed. The pusher doesn’t nag us, but they do nudge us to follow our good intentions. They know that like an iceberg, genius is the 10% we see, and self-discipline is the 90% we don’t see. They help us realize that too.

The Connector:

They connect you. They sponsor you in ways not previously available to you. They have this ability to reach people and places that you couldn’t. They turn walls into doors. They delight in getting you an audience, a relationship, a breakthrough. They bring a touch of magic. It wasn’t there, and poof! — now it is.

The Mentor:

They mentor you. They are interested in your ideas, and are willing to share their wisdom and experience. They are examples of what you want to do and help you discover more about yourself. They see your potential and are willing to give insights into the direction you should go. Your association with them acts as a constant reminder of your untapped awesome potential.

The Visionary:

They envision you. In a sense they are idealists. They help you formulate your picture of the future. They are the big picture people who align your goals with where you want to go and what you want to become. They are interested in where you want to end up and make sure you are taking the best route. When you find yourself circling in deeply rutted paths, they help you discover a better way – a more dynamic way. They synthesize your approach.

Nothing of lasting significance is accomplished by ourselves.

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

Who is on your team you need to thank? Who is not on your team that needs to be there?