The Story of Eddie Bennett

How the people around you make all the difference

You can be the smartest, the most charismatic, the best resourced, but if you don’t have great people with you, you won’t accomplish anything great.

Eddie Bennett was a bat boy for the Chicago White Sox in 1919. That year, the White Sox won the pennant and infamously threw the World Series in a gambling scandal. The next year, he went to the Brooklyn Robins who happened to also win the pennant. In 1921, he moved to the Yankees who won their first pennant in team history and went on to win five American League titles over the next five years. In 1927, he earned the equivalent of a full year’s salary for the four days of work in winning the title.

To be a winner, you need to work with winners. Eddie understood that the single most important factor in his success was getting on the right team. The winning team.

That’s why your title, your salary, and your status matter little for your career success. The single most important factor is the team and the people you are working with.

I have a friend, let’s call him Andre. Andre has worked at several tech companies over the last decade. He has had the same title of VP at his last three companies. Although his title is constant, one of these companies is not like the others.

His first two companies struggled to grow sustainably for various reasons. I’d venture to guess that team was one of them. His current company has great people, a great product and explosive growth. He is on pace to far exceed the financial outcomes of any previous job he has had. All because he picked the right team.

A great idea with a bad team is destined for failure. A good idea with an exceptional team will figure it out.

Choose wisely.