The Five People Who Determine Your Success

Anyone who has accomplished anything of significance didn’t do it
alone. Neither should you. Think about the five people you spend the
most time with and answer this blindingly simple yet imperative
question: Do they make you better?

If they don’t, the question then becomes: Who does makes you
better?

Who’s In Your Top Five?

Below is how you identify your Top Five — or as I have often called
them, your ‘Allies of Glory’. These are the people with a unique set of
skills and expertise who encourage you, inspire you, empower you,
challenge you and push you to be the absolute best version of
yourself.

A good way to look at this is like the starting five of a basketball
team. Each player has a unique role to play. Here are the key positions
for you to identify:

Point Guard – The Facilitator. The point guard is the floor general.
They see the big picture and support you in managing the flow of
information. They’re good at knowing when you can speed things up or
slow things down. In short, they can see things that you can’t.

Shooting Guard – The Playmaker. The playmaker is the Molotov
Cocktail. They light the scoreboard up. They are in the midst of making
great things happen in their life and when you need a jolt of
creativity, business brainstorming or a push, they are your person. They
move fast and don’t have much patience for indecision. They remind you
that if you miss a shot, just keep shooting.

Small Forward – The Encourager. The role player is one of the most
underestimated players on a team. They do the work that many don’t see
and they don’t regularly show up in the post-game statistics. But when
they’re around, you always seem to be at your best. During tough spells
they support you with perspective and their never wavering
commitment.

Power Forward – The Bruiser. As much as you love your power forward,
you may equally hate them. Their genius is holding you accountable to
what you said you were going to do. If you tell them you’re writing a
book, they’ll ask questions like, “When will it be finished?” They are
metric-based and measure success by the progress you do or don’t
make.

Center – The Rock. This is the veteran. When all hell is breaking
loose, they help you remember what’s most important. They make sure you
don’t mistake the forest for the trees. They know that goals are great
but sometimes we just lose sight of why we are doing whatever we are
doing in the first place. You need them to keep you grounded and
supported.

Spending time with top performers isn’t always easy. Why? Because
they’re going to push your buttons. They’re not going to accept excuses.
They’re going to make you do what you say. They’re going to get you
outside of your comfort zone. The good news is that this positive
friction is where growth, development and breakthroughs happen.

Your starting five aren’t always going to be your best friends. You
may not even talk daily. But when it’s time to play ball, they will
bring out the best in you every time. And sure, there will be talented
players on the bench, who come in from time to time. But your starting
five play a key role in determining your success or lack thereof.

Don’t be afraid to work with the best. Surround yourself with
greatness.

Antonio Neves is an executive coach, speaker and award-winning
business journalist. He’s the founder of the consultancy THINQACTION and
the co-founder of international accelerator, The Ignition Lab.

Courtesy of YEC

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization
comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In
partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free
virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start
and grow businesses.