Who do you consider your tribe, or what I affectionately call, your peeps?
With whom do you surround yourself, work, do business, and get advice?
Who is your inner circle and what is the value of the relationship?

Personally, I’ve come to a place in my career where I need to work with folks that I respect.  I don’t have to be best friends with all of our clients, but I need to respect what they are doing.  I want to feel invested in their growth.  Additionally, I want them to feel invested in us. No business owner has time or money to waste, including myself.  Expending energy on relationships without a foundation of trust or respect is exactly that.  Second guessing or questioning motives expends mental energy that frankly, I don’t have to spare.  Easy to state yet sometimes hard to follow.  From experience, I’ve found that going with the gut works very well here.  Naturally, you have to build trust, whether that be from a short engagement up front or vouched for by trusted folks within the industry.  Ultimately, it is up to both sides to maintain that trust.

This trust carries over to our partners in the industry.  I spend a lot of time building relationships so that my tribe is not only strong, but helps BOOST us forward (sorry, can’t help myself!).  The more time I spend with high energy, intelligent, go-getters that appreciate and value relationships and client delivery, the better.  I want to surround myself and refer to folks who have my clients best interest in mind, instead of simply turning over a quick buck.  People who believe that not every email or introduction is a transaction, and not all yield monetary rewards.  Instead, folks that will take the call to assist and find the right solution.

As BOOST continues to grow, I find I also need colleagues that I value and trust.  As we move together on this crazy journey, the transactional becomes less important and the relationship becomes critical.  I want to be motivated to watch them transform as leaders and gain experience.  I seek to learn from them.  I continue to want to be surrounded by people smarter than myself as well as to be that type of leader for others.

As you strive to push and grow your business, you need your tribe of supporters with whom you can grow.  Like-minded, high energy, similarly valued peeps.  I endeavor to cultivate different skills sets, especially from those opinionated folks who are smarter and faster than I am.  This keeps me on my toes and helps push me to grow with intention.

Who are your peeps and what are their expectations for you?