For those of you that don’t know, I’m involved in a number of different associations  and one of the perks of generally being an engaged member is that I get to meet some really interesting and fascinating people. One of these organisations is called Entrepreneurs Organisation (EO) where I sit on the board and am responsible for the Marketing & Communications portfolio.

One of the EO products that I organize is called “In the Boardroom”. It’s an event whereby I invite a successful entrepreneur to an exclusive experience sharing session with EO members.

The last “In the Boardroom” event was with South Africa’s top family and celebrity lawyer Billy Gundelfinger.

As part of the event organising process, I always go to the invited entrepreneurs office for a one on one briefing session before the event. Sitting with Billy and talking about his life, he told me a story about his father Max and ended the story with a little gem that I thought is well worth sharing. Billy explained that his father used to say with reference to a persons character: “Show me who your friends, colleagues and business associates are; and I’ll show you who you are”.

The words hit me like a ton of bricks. Immediately I started to evaluate my own life based on the company I keep.

I think its important to acknowledge that as you go through life – I would say +- 10 years after school is the turning point – you start to shed the people in your life who you lack commonality with. You tend to be friendly, network and build business relationships with people who you share common values and ethics with.

I think Max Gundelfinger’s wise words are a good litmus test for yourself, every couple of years.