Winning with people you don’t respect feels a lot like losing, just with better photos.

Results get all the attention, and then you find out that the daily experience of who you did it with is most of what you actually lived. A season, a job or a project spent among people you cannot stand leaves something behind that a trophy does not cancel out. The photos look identical either way, which is part of the trap.

When you are choosing what to join, weigh the people as heavily as the opportunity. Ask who you will be spending Tuesday afternoons with. A smaller win with people you would follow anywhere tends to be the one you talk about years later.