Tony Robbins, the famous personal development guru, was trained and mentored by leadership pioneer, Jim Rohn. Jim has since passed away, however, he had a powerful saying that I often share with audiences during my leadership keynote speeches:
“We are the average of the five people we spend the most time with.”
Who are the five people you spend the most time with? Are there some people that are “in” that should be “out”? I once had to “fire” a good friend of mine who was a wonderful guy, but was also a “glass half empty” type of person. Every time we talked, he was constantly looking at life negatively even though he had a wonderful life. It got to the point where he was killing my motivation! I had to let him go…
Or are there some people that are “out” that should be “in”? Do you have a mentor to help guide your professional career, to answer your tough business transformation questions, to give you a kick in the pants when you need it? If you are in a leadership role at work — C-suite and other management positions — do you have someone above you or laterally that you trust to tell you, “No. Don’t do that. You are about to make a bad decision!”?
I recently spoke at a Project Managment Institute (PMI) chapter’s Professional Development Day. As a business leadership keynote speaker, I shared with the audience several keynote takeaways to help them make better decisions, grow as project management leaders, and complete projects effectively and efficiently.
And one very popular audience takeaway is what I call “The Fab 5.” To help you overcome the decision-making trap of bad influences such as leading your team and making decisions from fear, ego, ANGER, guilt, obligation, etc., I have audience members start to create their Fab 5 team immediately.
Get Into Action in 3 Simple Steps: (1) Do a “Fab 5” inventory: Who are the five people you currently spend the most time with? Jot them down. (2) Create your Fab 5 “dream team”. Are there people in your life that are not serving you? Let them go. Who do you want on your Fab 5 dream team? Jot down the new list and next to each person’s name write a brief sentence on how they can benefit you. For example, “Tom Smith: My former sales manager and current EVP of sales at ABC, Inc. He is a great resource for helping me navigate my sales management career.” And so on. (3) Take RELEVANT action: Spend the next five minutes contacting your Fab 5. Tell them what you are up to and how you want them to help you.
You’ll be amazed at how you'll grow as a decisive leader by setting up and empowering a Fab 5 Dream Team.
If you have any questions about setting up your Fab 5, post a comment below or hit me up on Twitter @mpveltri . I’ll be sure to get back to you right away. And If you liked the ideas presented here, please consider purchasing a copy of my nationwide bestselling book, The Mushin Way to Peak Performance: The Path to Productivity, Balance, and Success. In the book, you will find a whole lot more valuable tools and techniques to help you make better decisions, fuel-inject your leadership, and create responsible results in business and life.