The Number One Lesson in Business

Recently, I spoke to a group of Vanderbilt University students. The university has a class for aspiring entrepreneurs that regularly brings in business owners to share their professional experiences. When I inquired what it was they would like me to speak about, my instructions were to “just tell your story and share the lessons you’ve learned over the years.”

So I gave some thought to what I’ve learned about business in my nearly 25-year professional career and came up with a few things I felt might be worthy of sharing with the class. I’m not sure that I’d ever really reflected on it before, but in going through this exercise to prepare for my talk with the students it became very clear to me that of all the lessons I’ve learned in my career — and this applies to my personal life as well — one stands out above all the others.

The number one lesson that I’ve learned in my career is the importance of associating yourself with quality people. Whether you’re hiring your next employee, interviewing for a new job, choosing a vendor, or evaluating a prospective business partner, making sure that you consider the character of the person with whom you are dealing should be of the utmost importance. You want to work with people of integrity — people with whom you can be proud to be associated.

Do you want to work for and with people who are bright? Definitely. Do you want to choose vendors who provide a competitive price? You bet. Do you want the people you partner with to be experienced? Sure. But above everything else you want someone with character. Go find yourself bright, experienced people of character and align yourself with them. It will pay off every time.

Character can be tough to describe, but you know it when you see it. Think of it as the “mom test.” Remember back in grade school you’d make a new friend at school and you knew immediately whether or not this was someone your mother would approve of? The ones to whom she would have given her blessing are the ones who had character. They possessed the traits that you want in people you associate with because, let’s face it, the people you are surrounded by affect how you are perceived — and they also affect what you’ll achieve.

I can tell you that as I progressed through my career, the choices I made about people had more bearing on my success than any other single factor. I’ve been lucky in many ways. I’ve chosen some great people to work for, and they’ve treated me well and provided me with tremendous opportunities. But sometimes the ones you don’t choose are just as important as those you do.

I told the young students at Vanderbilt the story of one such choice in my career. It was early in my professional life, and I had been offered a job at a company and had decided to decline the offer. Why I didn’t take the job had to do with a number of factors including the need to relocate my family, but it came down to my basic instincts about the company president. Less than a year after turning down the job, I ran into the company president at a conference. I had just given a speech, and he approached me in the lobby to again offer me a job. “What if I doubled what you’re making today?” he boldly asked. I told him I’d consider his offer and let him know.

Now I was a young guy with a family, and the thought of making twice what I was earning at the time was appealing. So I went to my mentor and asked him what he thought about the situation. I can remember asking, “The guy has offered to double what I make today, am I crazy if I don’t accept it?” His response was, “What does your gut tell you about the opportunity?” My gut was screaming “don’t do it.” I’d already turned him down once and had never regretted the decision, but the money was enticing. Needless to say, I didn’t take the job, and it was a great decision for me. From time to time, I still run into the company president, and I just smile and thank my lucky stars I made the decision that I did.

You will serve yourself very well if you surround yourself with people of high integrity. And I’d argue that if you don’t show strong character yourself, you won’t be successful in getting those types of people to associate with you. If you act with integrity and demonstrate strong character, you will attract those who hold similar values. The value of associating with quality individuals is the most important lesson I’ve learned in my career. I’m thankful for the opportunity to speak to the VU students because it prompted me to reflect on this critical fact.