April 24, 2025

Embrace the “Spillover Effect” to Increase Your Success and Satisfaction

We know that the choices our students make about who they’re friends with matter. Students who spend most of their time with peers who value learning, achieving, and succeeding do better in school. For example, students who join athletic teams, participate in the arts, and join other purpose-driven groups tend to misbehave less and succeed more in academics. Similarly, students who spend most of their time with others who expect to graduate also graduate at higher rates themselves. Likewise, students whose friends plan to go on to higher education have a higher rate of participation in formal education after high school.

However, the influence of social networks is not confined to young people. It turns out that the people we spend time with as adults—our friends, colleagues, and associates—also tend to have a significant impact on our sense of well-being, our productivity, our level of motivation, and even our character. For example, a recent study found that workers who are surrounded with high performers experienced an increase of 15% in their productivity. Attitudes and behaviors such as curiosity, innovation, and motivation have a “spillover effect.”

Surrounding ourselves and spending significant time with positive people, high achievers, and action-oriented individuals can also have a significant impact on our attitude. We tend to feel better more often when the people around us are optimistic, take action to make things better, and show resilience in the face of challenges.

Of course, we cannot always choose those with whom we work and occasionally must spend time. Nevertheless, we can choose to minimize social and unstructured time with negative, pessimistic, and otherwise toxic people. When we must spend time with such people, we can consciously resist being dragged down, depressed, or otherwise influenced by them. Just being aware of the potential to be influenced can provide significant immunization from their impact.

Each of us has networks of people around us. We may have social networks formed by commonalities like the same workplace or field, or we may have networks based on our faith or religion to feed and renew our faith and spirituality. We may even be part of other networks that meet a need, feed an interest, or serve another purpose for us. Each of these associations plays a role in our lives and can have an influence on our happiness, satisfaction, sense of belonging, and self-worth.

There is yet another type of network to consider if we are not already part of one. This network is comprised of people we admire, people who are high achievers in an area of interest or aspiration and who can serve as models to emulate. Our commitment to and participation in this network can play a determinative role in our career success or in other areas of importance to us. When choosing or building this kind of network, there are several factors to prioritize so we can embrace its “spillover effect.” Here are factors to consider in our search:

Look for thought leaders who provide access to valuable ideas, perspectives, and insights.
Look for models of mindsets and patterns of behavior that lead to success.
Pay attention to curious mindsets, innovative approaches, and novel thinking.
Search for people who are energized by exploring and embracing ideas.
Seek out skilled, interested listeners who invite your ideas and will provide thoughtful feedback.
Find people who inspire and challenge your thinking.
Embrace opportunities to share your knowledge and expertise.

It may be challenging to find or form a network that includes all these features. Just know that the more exposure to and engagement you have with sources of possibility, the greater impact it will have on your thinking, aspirations, performance, and overall satisfaction.

References:

Housman, M., & Minor, D. (June 2016). Workplace design: The good, the bad, and the productive. Harvard Business School. https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/16-147_c672567d-9ba2-45c1-9d72-ea7fa58252ab.pdf

Corsello, J., & Minor, D. (2017, February 14). Want to be more productive? Sit next to someone who is. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2017/02/want-to-be-more-productive-sit-next-to-someone-who-is