We all know we'd rather be around high-quality leaders and performers than with a bunch of negative complainers.

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In 2017, Northwestern University researchers studied high-performing workers at a large tech firm. They found that high performers boosted the performance of all co-workers within a 25-foot radius around them by 15%.

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It’s called positive spillover. And it translated into an additional profit of about $1 million dollars a year.

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There’s also a negative side to spillover.

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And the negative is far more powerful than the positive. Sitting within 25 feet of a negative co-worker hurt employee performance by 30%.

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Yep, you read that correctly...

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Toxic employees have twice the impact of a high performer. And they increase your susceptibility of becoming toxic yourself at a far faster rate than the high performer influences those around them.

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Your environment and who you surround yourself with really does matter. So put an emphasis on who you choose to associate with.

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You don't always get to pick your team and teammates, but you do get to pick whom you spend your time with away from the field and, to an extent, at the field.

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I recommend tightening your circle to increase positive spill over and remove the toxic people that lead to negative spill over.

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Is there anyone in particular that you need to limit your interactions with?

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Who in your life falls into the positive spillover category? Who do you want to spend more time with?

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