YOU ARE THE AVERAGE OF THE FIVE (5) PEOPLE WITH WHOM YOU SURROUND YOURSELF
I went to Alliance – An immensely loaded statement despite its diminutiveness. The bearer invokes pride of association to an institution with a rich legacy and storied history. It signifies membership to an illustrious group of alumni that boasts captains of industry and titans of government. At one point, Alliance alumni occupied more than half the cabinet positions in government. ‘I went to Alliance’ is in effect an imprimatur of one’s capabilities and with the right amount of pixie dust, a golden future.
One would not be faulted for believing Alliance to be an architectural marvel with state-of-the-art infrastructure and modern amenities. On the contrary, the buildings suffer a case of pre-independence hangover. My first day at Alliance was a culture shock of monumental proportion. The sideboard that was allocated to me did not have a bottom shelf. Put differently, had someone lifted my sideboard with my belongings having been arranged on the ‘bottom shelf’, said belongings would have been on the floor. This notwithstanding, the mattress on my bed was of razor-thin variety. Cognizant of the damage that can be done by an item of wafer-thin disposition as was the case with the mint that caused Mr. Creosote’s explosion in Monty Python’s ‘The Meaning of Life’, I wasted no time scouting for an unoccupied bed from whence I took ownership of the mattress thereon. Amongst the numerous adjustments I would have to contend with as I acclimatized myself to this new environment, displaced vertebrae was certainly not going to be one of them. That night, as I lay on my double bottom-lined bed, I stared at the ceiling in incredulity. It seemed almost fantastical that I had opted out of Loreto Convent Valley Road (LCVR) and all the attendant advantages that came with being an LCVR girl. Could this be my Damascus moment? Perhaps I was trying to be efficient. ‘I went to Alliance’ is certainly less of a mouthful than ‘God made us all equal then some went to Loreto.’ The exertions of the day finally got the best of me and I eventually nodded off. Evening passed and morning came. That was my induction to the indomitable Alliance. It took a while getting used to the institution. Frankly speaking, I fully immersed myself into the school and its activities during my final year. Needless to say, I can emphatically say the days, weeks, months and ultimately years I spent in this competitive environment were one of the most formative and life-changing periods of my life.
There is something cosmic about the company of and frequent collaboration with over-achievers. It’s as though there is an elemental shift in your constitution. In this race to the top, be it in academics, drama, music or sports, the spirit of excellence is inadvertently birthed. When everyone around you is consistently bringing their A-game, the desire to be the best you can possibly be is effectively crystallized. It becomes part of your DNA. The activities you engage in are no longer binary. They become an extension of yourself. The time I spent at Alliance had unwittingly engraved its tour de force insignia in me. The penny drops every time I find myself in a high-performing environment. You are the average of the five (5) people with whom you surround yourself.
‘You are the average of the five (5) with whom you surround yourself does not apply solely to people. It transcends to real estate as well. Location, location, location is the defining mantra in real estate. How is this replicable in this context? As is typical of any major metropolis, apartments in the heart of the city, command a premium. Besides the forces of demand and supply at work, it’s also a function of the company these buildings are keeping. An apartment complex in New York City (NYC) that is steps from 5th Avenue and that counts Central Park as its neighbor, not to mention sweeping views of the NYC skyline, would not command the same premium were it to be uprooted and taken out of Manhattan. In the same vein, the selling point of a new shopping complex, is its anchor tenant. The anchor tenant needs to be such that it appeals to the same market demographic as that of the complex’s other potential tenants. The anchor tenant in effect drives traffic to the shopping complex. This go-to-market strategy, is intended to have a spill-over effect for other stores in the complex. It’s interesting to note that the anchor tenant, a supermarket or department store, tends to be located towards the end of the complex. This brilliant marketing strategy inadvertently creates prospective customers for the other stores in the shopping complex with the walk to the supermarket or department store being the advertising campaign. As such, it is imperative the anchor tenant is value adding to the shopping complex’s other tenants.
‘You are the average of the five (5) people with whom you surround yourself’ can also be said of companies. Dubbed the S&P phenomenon, when an announcement is made that a company is to be admitted to the S&P 500, its market price rises by an average of 5%. One of the reasons for this upswing is that funds and institutional investors tracking the S&P 500 index purchase the newly admitted stock for their portfolios. This increased demand for the stock puts upward pressure on its share price. Additionally, admission to the S&P 500 index confers prestige to the company resulting in a rise in its credit rating. Membership in the index is a coming of age for companies; a graduation into a prestigious club of US-based companies with high liquidity, positive earnings, good credit and as at March 2022, a market capitalization of close to US$ 15 billion. It is the ultimate status symbol for companies.
‘You are the average of the five (5) with whom you surround yourself’ is applicable to the world of funds as well. The capital raising efforts of a fund, be it is a startup or a more established fund are impacted by the presence or lack thereof of an anchor investor. Anchor investors serve as quality indicators for ambivalent investors or those with either low risk tolerance or less experience and sophistication in evaluating funds. This endorsement of initial capital commitment, by an anchor investor, especially one who is respected, acts as a catalyst for the fund’s future investments. Funds with anchors close with, on average, $9 million more in Assets Under Management (AUM).
According to social psychologist Dr. David McClelland, those who one habitually associates with determine as much as 95% of their success or failure in life. With such high odds, the environment within which people, real estate and companies alike immerse themselves cannot be left to chance. It is a matter of choice and ought to be actively constructed and maintained. You are, after all, the average of the five (5) with whom you surround yourself.