I am not a big guy. I have never had huge muscles. I was never the strongest kid in the class. In high school I remember struggling, with all the strength I could muster, to do one pull-up. I don’t think I ever accomplished that one pull up. Oh well. But even though I was one of the weaker guys, I never was afraid of getting beat up because from an early age I learned how important it was to surround myself with guys who were bigger than me. If I couldn’t fight off people, I had friends who could. If someone got in my face, I always had friends who were right next to me. And so throughout my life I’ve always had friends who were a lot stronger than me.
I’m learning that who you surround yourself with matters. In fact, the people you place around you is one of the most important decisions you can make. Good leaders surround themselves with good people, people who are smarter, more creative, and more talented than they are. And they are not intimidated or threatened by the talents of their friends. Instead they are often inspired by them.
One leader who did this was David. David was the second king of Israel, and despite a few failures he was a successful king. David surrounded himself with some good people, people who had crazy skills, people with an impressive resume, people who got stuff done. The people David surrounded himself with were…
- Skilled [1 Chronicles 12:2] – They could shoot with both their right and left hands.
- Experienced [1 Chronicles 12:8] – They were brave warriors, battle tested, and they had cool faces – faces like lions and were swift on the mountains.
- Trusted [1 Chronicles 12:17-18] – They pledged their lives to David when they said, “We are yours and we are with you.”
- Focused [1 Chronicles 12:33, 38] – They had one purpose… make David king, and that is what they and all of Israel worked towards.
Amazing things happen when you are surrounded with good people. David was successful, but I think David’s success had something to do with the people he surrounded himself, which was one of David’s most defining leadership decisions.