Be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them. - W. Clement Stone

I've been a leader of people for many years across various roles; I believe some are built for it, have natural attributes that lean them towards leadership, and others are followers. All good leaders will be able to learn from others, evaluate good and bad examples, and apply that knowledge to becoming a better leader. This new series is designed to expose great quotes by various leaders and to investigate how they may relate or apply to myself or others. _{original im src}

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This week's leadership quote

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Be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them.

_{- W. Clement Stone -}

I'm not sure who said it, but many years ago I heard the saying, you can choose to soar with the eagles, or stay on the ground with the turkeys, in respect of choosing one's company, the people we choose to surround ourselves with and what effects they may have upon us.

It's a good little phrase and I think works as well with environment as it does with people. The words are different, however it means the same thing as the W. Clement Stone quote I've chosen this week which tells us that the influences we have around us can effect us positively or negatively, so choose carefully.

There's many angles, and examples, I could use to discuss this quote as there's no shortage of bad influences in society these days; they reach right into our homes from around the globe in seconds via the internet too and I believe the impact and cost to us as individuals and as a society is massive. Be it social media, friends and peer groups, news and infotainment services, corporations, governments and organisations, no matter where we are we're influenced in some way. Sure, we all have the choice of whether to take the influence on board or not, but even if we choose not, it finds a way to seep in, even if just a little and without us wilfully taking it on.

Choosing the people we have around us, friends or otherwise, and where we spend our time, can have great impact upon our lives.

I've always sought to remove toxic or negative relationships from my life and replace them with those that are more positive and uplifting but, of course, it's not always possible.

Being in environments we may not be able to fully control can mean we are exposed to people who may influence us poorly. This could be school, sporting clubs, workplaces and even family situations; it means Hive and the other social medias also, however we have the ability to control that environment to some degree by turning it off. What's important though, is to recognise and remove those bad influences. Oh, and don't forget that there's the opposite also, good influences, which is what this quote is all about; finding and embracing them.

So many people respond to these posts with, I'm not a leader, but I completely disagree. We all lead lives, and in those lives we have to lead ourselves with thoughts, attitudes and actions that [hopefully] create lives we are content and comfortable with, and also set good examples to others around us. Selecting the company we keep and the environments in which we exist is a critical step towards that. Having the ability, honesty and ownership to recognise and remove bad influences and identify and embrace good ones is a skill we should all be developing and using.

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If you have any thoughts on this leadership quote, experiences of your own, or questions please feel free to comment below.

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