Josh's Weekly Insights - June 10, 2026

“The people you surround yourself with influence your behaviors, so choose friends who have healthy habits.”

-Dan Buettner

I was working with bankers with the Illinois Bankers Association this week. Many of my leadership classes can have a serious tone because of the subject material. However, the bankers I worked with were an incredible group of bankers that made it very fun. So today is all about recognizing the impact of the people around you on your performance and outcomes.

Different classes have different feels which inherently impact the person leading the sessions. I love my job, but if I am being honest, some days are harder than others. The last time I worked with this group, I was sick, so I don’t think they received my best presentations. This time, the energy in the room helped make it one of the most enjoyable sessions I have held.

This was then enhanced on my flight home. My seat assignment was changed, which ended up with me holding a middle seat instead of my normal window seat. While this can be frustrating, it wasn’t tonight because of the two people I share a row with. They were both kind, compassionate people who were willing to share their stories with me about how they are making an impact in the world.

It was truly uplifting to be surrounded by amazing people all day long.

Remember that in life, few things will have more impact on your future than the people you surround yourself with. If you are surrounded by positive, uplifting people then your outcomes will be bright. If you are surrounded by people who only see the negative, then it will bring you down. We even talked about it in class today when we discussed the people on our team that can only see why they can’t do something versus the ones that only look for solutions and how they can make it happen.

Be the person that only sees opportunities and more opportunities will exist for you.

A huge thank you to my class members this week as well as Beau and Reesha from my flight.

Now get out there and crush your week!