The Power of Association
If you run with a pack of wolves, you will howl. If you hunt with a pride of lions, you will feast on meat. If you hang out with a clan of hyenas, you will eat carcass. If you walk with a mob of kangaroos, you will definitely skip. If you flock with a drove of sheep, you will bleat. If you keep company with a troop of monkeys, you will misbehave. If you perched with a watch of nightingales, you will sing. If you sit with a committee of vultures, you will scavenge. If you watch a colony of ants, you will be diligent. If you take a flight with convocation of eagles, you will surely soar high.
Two things determine your growth between now and five years: the people you meet and the books you read.
If you find yourself taking a step forward and two steps backward, you have undoubtedly entangled yourself in a wrong association. The kind of people you associate with today determines what eventually become of your tomorrow. There are people you need to pair up with for you to move to the next level. There are people you need to cut off your life for your destiny to have enough breathing space. Just like Abraham cut off his cousin, Lot from his household so that his business could have enough space to breath. Sometimes, certain good things will not happen in your life unless certain people leave
Every relationship is essentially established for both parties to benefit from each other. Every relationship is expected to be symbiotic in nature, not parasitic. Any relationship that is parasitic oriented should be cut off without delay.
If you are not influencing something, something is influencing you. If you are not controlling your environment, your environment is controlling you. If are not affecting your society, your society is affecting you. If you are not impacting your generation, your generation is impacting you. And if you are not moving your world, your world is moving you. In life you must stand for something or something will stand in for you!
Being in a right association could also means having quality interactions with the right people. A right conversation with a right person can be more valuable than a 5-year course of study in a university. The answer you have been looking for years could be in possession of someone sitting next to you – it takes quality interaction to figure it out. Those who keep to themselves alone will invariably keep company with loneliness. In case you don’t know, the starvation of loneliness is worse than of a hunger. It is better to sleep on empty stomach and have people around you that can share in your dream than having your stomach filled up with no one to relate with. ‘ Problem shared is problem half solved...’
A man that wandereth out of the of understanding shall remain in the Congregation of the dead. − Proverb 21:16
Networking in business simply means meeting and interacting with people that are instrumental to the growth of your business. 85% of your happiness will come from interacting with people you care about and people who are directly or indirectly linked to your dream. I have come to know that networking requires no particular device, place, ethics or set of rules; it can come up anywhere, anyhow or anytime. It can just come up in a middle of a conversation, church, social gathering, even in a cab. Networking does not necessarily have to be verbal oriented; it can present itself through nonverbal channels. It is even possible to use body language to initiate networking. After you have successfully established a network, it must be properly maintained with creative follow-ups before it can meet the targeted goals. Networking is more like an investment that requires a whole lot of creative works and attention before it can start yielding dividends.
As a resource person that wants to create a business relationships with other business resource people, you must switch on your sensitivity. Before sealing up any business transaction, agreement or contract, you must verify the authenticity and source of your partners so that you don’t end being duped.
The right association suggests a business partnership with people of integrity. Before setting up a business partnership, the capacity and the integrity of partners and associates must be carefully put into consideration. Memorandum of understanding must be reached, necessarily sealed with legal terms and pre-created interest contributions. This must not come to you as a shock; your best friend can turn out to be a traitor in the field of business. That is why a well-defined agreement must be created before working together. (Amos 3:3) Emotions and familiarities must not be allowed to interfere with a business relationship. All due process must be duly observed in setting up a partnership to avoid a disaster that may likely jeopardize the future of the business partnership. Please note that "TRUST" is not a legal term in bussienss.
Sometimes, it is better to stand alone than to blend into the company of mediocrities
The book Proverb explains further:
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise but a company of fools shall be destroyed. – Prov. 13:20.
Primarily, the purpose of any association should not be based on just belonging or filling a space, but clicking into a right group to influence positively. An army of sheep led by a lion is better than an army of lion led by a sheep. The charisma of a man is measured by his ability to stand out from the crowd. The worst thing that can happen to a man is to stray from the originality of his destiny and blend into a crowd as a copy. Success in life is never a function of the majority; it is a function of originality. Don’t blend in on account of meeting your emotional need. You are lonely because you are yet to ignite a vision that can attract a long queue of people that want to be your fans, friends, partners, and associates. Mordecai refused to join others palace staff in honoring the ungodly minister; that alone paved way for his change of status. The king promoted him from a gateman to a minister. Daniel and the other three Hebrew boys refused to feed on the king’s order ─ special delicacy given to them by the chief of staff. In the end, they stood out as the best among the equals.
To be continued..