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Let’s talk about OTHER PEOPLE. During the early years of my career OPM entered every business person’s vocabulary. It stood for “Other People’s Money.” This was long before business people were the heroes. And it was really before VC’s (venture capitalists) were legendary. The goal of business owners who had a business that seemed scalable was the IPO (Initial Public Offering). We all dreamed of what it might be like to “go public.” That’s where the big money was, taking your company public and being listed on the stock market. It was the path to get your chips off the table and cash out a portion of your equity.
Money is great. We all want more of it, but when I talk about the power of others I don’t want to restrict it mere dollars because there are other things that have even higher value. Money will fix some things, but it won’t fix everything. It won’t solve every business problem. It won’t solve very many personal or private problems. It’s a great resource, but it’s not more valuable to us than the help and support we can get from other people. Particularly, people who get us and our situation. People who can actually do something other than listen to us. People who can help us think more clearly. People who can ask us questions that foster better answers. And people willing to hold us accountable to the very things we most want to accomplish.
Other people improve every facet of our lives. We have to make sure we’re surrounded by the right ones – the ones who can best serve us. Ironically, those are also the people who will accept our help. That give and take relationship makes it a very special thing — to have others encircling us and to have others allow us to be part of the group surrounding them.
You know what I love about the business world today versus when I was breaking in? Connection, collaboration and cooperation. It didn’t exist much when I was younger. We were competitive. Sometimes even hostile. We thought the world was a zero-sum game, meaning if we lost then it meant somebody else won. And if we won (which was always the goal), then somebody necessarily lost. That proverbial pie everybody was chasing was a finite thing. A fixed size. Nobody thought about growing the pie. We only thought about our ability to get our piece. The biggest piece possible.
If you were born in the last 30 plus years, you’ve learned how wrong we were. You’ve learned how big the markets are, how many customers are available, how other people are THE path to greater accomplishments, opportunities, and success.
This is at the heart of my career change with The Peer Advantage by Bula Network.
Have you ever gone through some really tough time? Maybe it was personal and private. Maybe it was completely business-related. Maybe both.
Something that wrecked you. Caused you to lose sleep. Lots of it. Something that caused you to lose your appetite. Something that vexed you night and day. You couldn’t get your mind off of it.
Jason Isbell released a song in 2013 on his album, Southeastern. It was entitled Elephant. A sad, awful song about a woman with terminal cancer, something that has afflicted many of us. Try as we might, cancer defines so many people. Not what we want. Or what we hope. But those who suffer it know it’s the constant topic of every conversation.
We all have elephants who occupy the rooms of our lives. Dominate our minds and hearts.
Try as we might, they don’t leave us alone. Big, imposing creatures impossible to ignore. That’s what our elephants represent.
For you, it may be something that awful as cancer. Your own, or a loved one.
It may be a child you fret about 24/7. Or a spouse.
It may be a particular business challenge you just can’t figure out. Or one that worries you enormously.
Elephants. Only a fool deals with them alone. Others – trusted confidants help.
You’re not likely intentional about the others in your life. If you’re like 99% of business owners – or any humans – then you bravely try to act like you don’t need any help. Secretly, you crave it though. You privately wish you had some people you could lean on. People who don’t judge you…they just help you. Not by telling you what you should do, but people who help you clearly assess the situation and make sure you’re seeing it accurately. People who care only about your success because they know life isn’t a zero-sum game. They know when they face their elephant, you’ll be there to help them. It’s mutual service and it’s insanely powerful. Extraordinary. Remarkable.
You’re tired of going it alone. Problems, issues, and opportunities deserve to be addressed with wisdom, thoughtfulness, experience, and insights.
That, my friends, is the power of others. Others lift us higher. Sustain us when we’re down. Resurrect us when we feel like we’re both down and out. Speed us up when we’re dragging. Slow us down we’re speeding out of control. They do for us what we’re unable to do for ourselves!
Aren’t you ready to join the most elite people on the planet? The people who have learned that by leveraging the power of others they can grow their business, their leadership and their lives. Then figure it out. Find a way to surround yourself with powerful people. I’m working on just 2 answers — two groups of 7 business owners from around America who can do for others what they can’t do alone. And who can have done for them what only others can do! Visit ThePeerAdvantage.com for more details.
Be well. Do good. Grow great!
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About the hosts: Randy Cantrell brings over 4 decades of experience as a business leader and organization builder. Lisa Norris brings almost 3 decades of experience in HR and all things "people." Their shared passion for leadership and developing high-performing cultures provoked them to focus the Grow Great podcast on city government leadership.
The work is about achieving unprecedented success through accelerated learning in helping leaders and executives "figure it out."