Here’s another lesson taught to me by Marshall Goldsmith – the world’s top executive coach:
“If you want to be a success, work with outstanding people – they make huge progress without a lot of input from you. Mediocre performers never get very far and refer you to more people just like them. The thing that separates great coaches from weak ones is the calibre of clients they choose to work with.”
As I get older, I realize that this is the biggest key to success – associating yourself with outstanding people in the key seats in your life.
I worked for several years for a large multinational company. At the time that I left we had about 300 retailers selling our products. 80% of our profits and gross dollars came from about 18 of those retailers. Those 18 were absolutely outstanding people. Everything mattered to them. They cared passionately about what they did. They were amazing.
In retrospect, our efforts would have been best spent disciplining ourselves to find (and only admit) outstanding retailers. You don’t need many outstanding people to make a huge difference.
Who are the key people in your work life? Are they outstanding? If they are, you will inevitably rise with them.
