How do Executives really decide who's worth their time?

Most connections drain value while the vital few transform destinies—yet it's the middle 60% who quietly compound your wealth like Confucius's 'gentleman of modest means.' As the Arabic proverb warns: 'Choose your companion before your road,' for mediocre relationships multiply mediocre results.

In networking, as in chess: The master sees 10 moves ahead while the amateur sees only one—but the grandmaster knows when to sacrifice the queen. Like Sun Tzu's paradox: 'All warfare is deception,' your most valuable connections often disguise themselves as your most ordinary encounters.

Test every connection with Socratic ruthlessness: 'An unexamined relationship is not worth having'—then keep only those who multiply your momentum. As the Japanese say, 'Vision without action is daydream; action without vision is nightmare'—your network needs both dreamers and executors, never parasites.