Who Is In Your Circle?
The other day, I heard Ken Johnson, the chaplain for the Indianapolis Colts speak to a group of business owners. While he had many valuable, inspirational and funny things to say to the audience, there was one quote which resonated with me.
He said: “If you are the smartest person you know, your circle is too small!”
And the more I thought about it, the more I knew he was right. We all like to feel “smart”, we like to be respected, and valued for what we know and what we do. But, particularly as small business owners, we need to surround ourselves with people who will push us, ecourage, and challenge us to do more, to do better, to change!
This idea of circles, and the roles other people play in your life, will be the theme of my upcoming presentation for the Southeastern Indiana Women’s Conference later this month.
It is easy for small business owners to feel alone, and isolated, but it doesn’t work very well if you are. Seek out other business owners, who will be good sounding boards, and perhaps have gone through many of the same challenges you are facing.
And remember it is a two way street, and sometimes, you have to be the one listening, supporting and suggesting too!
I found your gem of a post via savvy Guy Harris and am so thankful I did. As someone who speaks/consults on collaboration I found it most insightful.
Piggybacking on your points, there are many kinds of intelligence as Howard Gardner and others have discovered +
Each of us have many distinct sides to our personality, as Rita Carter shows in Multiplicity so it is valuable (and patience-building) to have more than one close circle, people in a circle who bring out different parts of us and people in a circle who are smart in different ways than us.
Most of all, it is magical to have a common agreement + rituals/methods in a circle that enable us to bring out the better sides in each other so we can be high-performing and happier – with and for each other.
From my work on the Obama campaign staff, creating the cell groups that supporting issue development and outreach I found that it was key for each group to agree on the rules of engagement, on their top goal and on how it reflected the sweet spot of mutual benefit for their participation. – and to be concrete about what each member brought to the group.
The conviviality and bonding that resulted was awe inspiring.
Kare,
Great points! You need to surround yourself with smart people, and different types of people who will give you alternative perspectives. They will challenge you, and make you feel uncomfortable, and they will make you think
I have a colleague out in LA (I’m in Indiana). Her business coach advised her to select 10 people/colleagues that she respects and have monthly calls with them to share ideas and feedback for each other.
I was honored when she asked me to be one of her 10. We’ve been doing our calls for a few months now, and I’d describe it as a peer mentoring experience. It is wonderful give-and-take. At the end of each call, we both end up saying how the call has given us concrete ideas and lifted us up.
Finding friends you can talk to honestly about your business is very important. I have a few and really value their input, ideas and support