During my time at Syracuse University, a friend of mine named Chad was heading home for about a week or so and he thought of me when it came to watching his fish. He brought the fish tank over to my apartment so that I could feed them every day, clean the tank and whatever else you're supposed to do to take care of fish.

In hindsight it was not a good idea but while at the pet store buying supplies, I bought a tiny shark to add to the tank with the rest of the fish.

Apparently, you're not supposed to mix aggressive fish with happy fish that mind their own business or the sucker fish that are just trying to eat some algae of the glass.

That shark drove the other fish insane. Literally. The shark would dart around, intimidating the others, all day long. The extra large goldfish didn't even want to eat while the shark was around. He eventually got a bite taken out of his tail. The little clear fish with small stripes on their side tried to stick together in one corner of the tank. All the fish just swam around scared, anticipating the shark sneaking up on them.

All the fish eventually died, even the shark! It happened quick too, in a matter of days. One by one they would turn belly up. Perhaps the shark died because the bowl was too small or because he had no one to bully.

How does that relate to business? Be careful what kind of fish you put together!

That reminds me of another animal comparison to people.

Dan Kennedy, my hero, says that all horses are different. Some like to be kept in the front of the stable where there is a lot of traffic and some like to be kept towards the back where they don't see anyone and are left alone.

The problem is the horses cannot tell us which part of the stable they prefer to stay in, we have to figure it out for them.

Just like people.

Some like to be in the mix and want to be around others most of the time while other people like to be left alone to work on their own.

Most people, like horses, don't even know where they are best suited. We have to figure it out for them. Sad but true.

Keep this in mind when hiring and training new staff. Most of the time they just want the job because they need the money.

You have to look past that and try to find out which type of horse (or fish) they are. Not always possible to find out beforehand but do your best to place each person in the best position and around the people mostly likely to enhance their talents, not kill them.

When I am managing a group of people, I hold the mindset of a team sport. In basketball, for example, you can have great players but if they don't work well together as a team, they may not win many games.

It has been said that a majority of people are let go from a job because of their personality and inability to work well with others than for their capability to do a good job.