<i>“Hang out with the crows and you may get shot, hang with eagles and you will soar”</i><p>That's a rather mundane statement in my opinion. "Surround yourself with the best and success will follow".<p>If that's true, the interesting question would be how you identify and attract the best.<p>Secondly, who are "the best and the brightest"? To me it almost seems like that if you are successful, these labels naturally will be used to explain your success. Apparent success makes other people attach these labels to you, your team and your company.<p>In this the entire construct of "attract eagles and you will soar" seems to be a tautology. If you soar, other people will think you are an eagle. But you might be lousy crow who just got lucky that it didn't get shot.