WHO IS YOUR GUY?
A new week. A fresh stretch of life to show up, push forward, and stay sane.
And it got me thinking: who is your guy? Who are your people? Who has your back when life is loud and when it is quiet?
Yesterday, I spent time with one of my blessings: my Lagos Business School (LBS) EMBA 11 class. We started our program in 2006, finished in 2007, and almost 20 years later, we are still standing together, stronger, deeper, and more bonded. LBS deserves her flowers 🌸. The way the school builds class groups and alumni structures is not accidental; it is strategic. As they say, the taste of the pudding is in the eating. There is a competitive edge in that ecosystem, and we are living proof.
We are over 50 brothers and sisters from another mother, colleagues turned confidants, friends turned family. We have celebrated milestones together and built businesses through each other, written books together, and raised each other’s spirits when life tested us. Despite being a class of men of timber and calibre, no airs, nobody feels too big for the other.
When my dad passed, they showed up like blood. The chief coordinator for my part was from my class group, who has now become part of my family, and my sister has even stolen her attention from me. When I stepped into consulting and entrepreneurship, my earliest clients came through my class connections and till date. My class buddy’s wife and I even co-authored a book when I turned forty. I’ve got many shoulders of giants to stand on, and lean on when needed.
Our class presido hosted us yesterday, and as always, the fun, the merry merry, the laughter, the plans, and the vision flowed. A Yoruba adage says: “Show me your friends, and I will tell you who you are.” These are the people you can do “yanga” with, confidently.
Yes, we have lost some along the way. May their precious souls continue to rest in perfect peace 🕊️. Their memory only deepens the value of what we still have.
And then there’s my class group, Group 7 (G7), the group to beat 😄 (I know I’m looking for the trouble of the other groups). What started as team-formation differences has evolved into deep respect for diversity, complementary strengths, and an unbreakable bond.
Looking back, a week hardly passes without me engaging one or two classmates. That is not a coincidence; it is social capital in action.
Research on social capital consistently shows that strong networks improve individual well-being, resilience, and opportunity access. Harvard’s long-running Adult Development Study found that the quality of relationships is the strongest predictor of long-term happiness and life satisfaction, not wealth, not status. In entrepreneurship and leadership research, trusted networks are linked to faster problem-solving, better decision-making, and higher survival rates in times of crisis.
I had always wanted to write a tribute to each member of my class, and I will hopefully be able to do that in the nearest time possible. The purpose of my writing today is to take motivation from the fact that our network can be a source of strength. The challenge often is the quality and quantity……… (fill in the gap). Which brings me to the real point of this post. Your network can be a source of strength or stress. The challenge is often not just the quantity of people around us, but the quality of those relationships.
So as this week begins, ask yourself:
- Who is your guy?
- Who tells you the truth with love?
- Who celebrates your wins without envy?
- Who shows up when there is nothing to gain?
- Who are you intentionally building bonds with, beyond transactions?
Call to action:
This week, do one thing deliberately:
- Reach out to someone in your circle and check in genuinely.
- Invest time in a relationship that has depth, not just convenience.
- Re-evaluate your inner circle and nurture the ones that truly matter.
- And if you don’t yet have “your guys,” start building, slowly, intentionally, authentically.
- Because life is hard.
- Leadership is lonely.
- And success is lighter and sweeter when carried together.
So again, I ask:
Who is your guy?
C’est moi,
Dr Funke Medun
#Friendship #LBS #EMBA11 #SocialCapital #RelationshipsThatMatter #Leadership #Networks #MondayMotivation #WhoIsYourGuy
