In this motivational talk, the speaker emphasizes that a leader’s success is heavily influenced by the quality of the people surrounding them. Citing John Maxwell’s principle that an inner circle can either elevate or break a leader, the speaker shares personal anecdotes—such as a land‑purchase insight gained from a trusted associate—to illustrate how valuable counsel can unlock opportunities. He warns that negative influences can crush dreams, likening them to “snatching the baby” from a visionary’s womb. The core advice centers on self‑knowledge: recognizing one’s own limitations enables humility and the willingness to learn from wiser individuals. The speaker urges listeners to intentionally seek out wise, intelligent mentors, even if it means appearing foolish in a learning environment, because such counsel can prevent costly mistakes, improve business decisions, and even safeguard one’s life. He notes that many wealthy individuals pay for counsel and references biblical examples of seeking wisdom, reinforcing that no one can possess all knowledge. The talk concludes with a call to audit one’s inner circle and ensure it is populated with people who can provide rapid, insightful solutions.
Chapters
Hey, my friend. We are. I know you are doing so well. Hey, we are dealing with how to build your inner circle, or what should you look for before you get into any group or close to a leader? One of the things I'll share with you is that the success of any leader. Depend on people who surround the leader. John Maxwell say your inner circle will either elevate you or it was gonna— it could— it can break you as well. Some of the people today lose their business because of people that are around them, and some are doing so well because the people that are around them. I remember when I was You know, looking to purchase MacKenton property. I mean, after one meeting, one of the guys start sharing. He said, "Man, this day I see lands are going so cheap. It look like the more the bigger land you purchase, the cheaper you pay for. So you can literally go and buy 100-acre land, let's say for five million, and go and buy thousand-acre land." For six million, it struck me. I was like, "How could this be?" I started doing research. I'm like, "This is true." That was the fruit of inner circle, people close to you. That I mean that hit me so hard, and I started to apply exactly that. Maybe you have been trying to do something, and somebody told you, "Man, you are a big dreamer. You're gonna waste your life. Why are you even thinking about that?" And that person just snatched the baby out of you and killed that dream. Up to today, you knew exactly what you was gonna do, but these people snatched that baby out of your womb the same way. This other guy dropped a seed of you know the possibility of seeing things different in me. I remember that so many cases where others actually brewed on choke the baby that I shared with them. I was so excited, but they was like, "Man, you're just a dreamer." In your inner circle, you have to make sure you. Surround yourself with wise and intelligent person. One of the things I always tell people is that know yourself. If you don't know, if you don't know how to recognize wise and intelligent people, that means you don't know yourself. Sometimes we fool ourselves, we lie to ourselves, thinking that we know everything and we can do everything. As a leader and as a business person. Your growth would depend of your understanding of yourself. When you know what you cannot do, now you'll be humble enough to sit at the feet of others and just listen to them and absorb it from them. It could only make you great. I'd rather look like a fool in a classroom than go out there and look like a fool in public. I'd rather look like a fool at the feet of a wise man and get great counsel from a wise man than step out and do any stupid thing that may cost me the rest of my life, or that may cost me my business. Do you have wise and intelligent people around you? Are you so intentional of getting with people that are smarter than you? You know some people are just— I mean, they just have it. I'm not saying you are not smart. You may be a great cook, but you don't know how to put color together. When you dress, you have a yellow, you have green, you have black, you mix up with white and red and blue. Because you just don't have that one. But you can learn from another wise person that is very, very good at that. In so many areas, how to reshape your business, how to redesign your business, the mind of business. When you get with the inner circle, you'll be challenged to become more. Do you have a list of wise people? And smart, intelligent people that you have around you that can make you see what you never saw before. Make sure you belong to an inner circle where wise men are giving counsel, where intelligent people could help you to see, get the solution very quick and solve problems. Most wealthy people pay for counseling. They call people, pay them so they can give them counsel. The Bible even says, even the wise, the wise men, when they hear that the Lord Jesus was born, they went to him to get counsel. Wisdom is important, and you will never have all the knowledge. That's why you have to surround yourself with people that have certain knowledge. It's going to do you good. It's going to do your business good. It's going to help you save some money. It's going to help you save some frustration. Even it can even help you save your life. Make sure in your inner circle you have wise people and intelligent people. See you tomorrow.
