One of my favorite maxims is from the autobiography of John H. Johnson, founder of Johnson Publishing Company, which published JET and Ebony magazines. Early in Johnson’s career, he worked for Harry H. Pace, CEO of Supreme Liberty Life Insurance. John was upset that Pace had negotiated a settlement with a man who owed the company money and, when Pace tried to collect it from him, was disrespectful to him.

In that moment, Pace told Johnson something he’d never forget:

If you want to succeed in business, young man, you’ve got to learn how to work with people that you don’t like. And you’ve got to learn how to compromise. After you compromise, you have to forget the past and go on to the future. For in business, you have no permanent enemies or permanent friends—only permanent interests.

This quote is powerful. It stuck with me. I took a screenshot of it, and I look at it periodically to remind me to stay focused on my interests and to work with people and compromise to work towards them—even people who aren’t my favorites. I’ve also shared that screenshot with friends when they’re working with people they don’t care for.

To get anything material accomplished in business, you can’t do it all yourself. You must work with people. Some of them you won’t like. But you must figure out how to work with them anyway, compromise, and keep progressing toward what matters to you.