The Reluctant Entrepreneur: Turning Dreams into Profits

CHAPTER 6

MASTERING THE ART OF BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS

In thinking back on my professional life, I can recall relationships that—however beneficial they may have seemed at the outset—eventually turned into sticky, swampy problems. Had I asked myself before getting involved with any of these people “Is this someone who sees the world of business the way I do?” I might have avoided a good deal of stress. In some cases, I might have saved a bundle of money.

The fact is, who you associate with is extremely important—in your business and your personal life. As a general rule, you become like the people you spend the most time with. This is an especially important consideration in business, where we come into contact with all sorts of individuals—brilliant and motivated, brilliant but lazy, dull but dedicated, dull and lazy.

You want to develop relationships with the smart, the hardworking, and the well-connected. You want to deal with people who are relatively trustworthy and honest. (I say “relatively” because I believe only the phoniest and scariest of people pretend to be 100 percent pure in these virtues.) And you want to work with people who have the same basic idea you have about what is good and true in life. It also makes sense to search out people who have strengths that complement your own.

Does that mean you should never spend time with “friends in low places”? Of course not.

Two short blocks from my office, just across the railroad tracks, sits O’Connor’s Pub. It’s an unassuming ...