Who’s Your Buddy?

When my girls were young, I was a Girl Scout leader and took them to camp. I also spent time serving in Young Women and went to girls’ camp. Whenever one of the girls for which I was responsible wanted to leave the group for a short period of time for any reason, my direction was always the same.

Take a buddy with you.

It was never good to be off by oneself. It was always safer to travel in a pair. We humans like to do things with other humans. As it turns out, we should be kind of picky when choosing those other humans.

In his second letter to the people of Corinth, Paul tells them “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers,” meaning that the Saints of God should not marry those that are of another faith. Each individual needs to choose a spouse that has similar goals and values.

And, so it goes in business.

In “The Hero’s Journey,” Jeff Sandefer tells us to “choose your fellow travelers well” with what he calls three lessons:

1.     “Surround yourself with people of integrity”

2.     “Surround yourself with people who are optimistic”

3.     “Surround yourself with people who are passionate”

It’s been said that we become like those with whom we hang out with. It’s true. Guilt by association is a real thing. Think of the teenage boy who goes out behind the backstop with his friends during lunch break. The boy's friends light up a few cigarettes, but not the young man we're thinking about; he doesn't smoke. Yet, when the principal shows up, our young friend gets in trouble right along with those who are smoking just because he’s with them.

Author, public speaker, and entrepreneur Tim Ferris, who borrowed this concept from Jim Rohn, says, “You are the average of the five people you most associate with.”

If I’m going to be the average of five, I’d better pick a buddy or two with some pretty high stats.