Reaching Out

Submitted by wendii on Wed, 09/01/2010 - 21:12.
in

One day last week, someone asked me if we'd heard of an author with a new management book out. I hadn't, so I downloaded the book to read on my Kindle and replied, I'll let you know when I've read it. "Wow, you rock" came the reply. To be honest, I was a bit shocked, since I didn't think I'd done anything special. (I've started it, by the way....).

Later Mark and I had a conversation about a phone call he'd had that day. One of our previous attendees had had a problem and emailed Mark. It wasn't the kind of thing that could easily be discussed by email, so we set up a 15 minute phone call. The attendee was astounded that Mark would take the time to talk to him and promised to follow up.

Maybe, we thought, only 10% of executives would give someone who asked a genuine question the time of a reply. But we offer Mark's email address at every conference, and you know, only a tiny number of people take him up on the offer. Even less follow up - and we love the people that do. We talk about them as our friends. We look forward to going to the towns where they are. There's some people who send me an email every now and again, and I think of them as my friends - even though our friendship started as them asking me a question they thought I could help with.

If you have a question and you think someone you admire could help, ask. I'm sure you'll be surprised at the response. And don't forget to follow up. If someone asks you a question, try to help. And, if you want to be friends with someone, reach out. It won't happen if you don't.

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bluehook's picture
Submitted by bluehook on Thu, 09/02/2010 - 09:11.

Too true. I reached out a

Too true. I reached out a while back, by suggesting for a podcast topic, an issue that was really problematic and causing me a lot of anxiety. I was amazed to have an email from Mark asking more about the problem, which I described and then had a very helpful, considered and very 'MT' response. By very 'MT', I mean advice that is simple yet effective, distilled wisdom. It didn't make my problem go away but it did help me to think about it in a different way and to hang on in there. Like they say 'Management is HARD', so true. If I hadn't asked, I would still be stuck in the old way of thinking or in a different job.

So here's my next request, have you though of running a competition?  The prize would be a seat on a flight with Mark or Mike, or yourself Wendii, where the winner would be able to pick your brains for several hours - the ultimate O3. Could include a conference at the other end, or shadowing a consultation, or taking part in a podcast - something that would be an additional learning opportunity. (Oh, and a flight home would be nice too.) That would be a great prize. And I’d enter, because as well as ‘Don’t ask, don’t get’, I’ve learnt that you have to be in it to win it. That’s how come I won this prize and how come I’ll be on an airplane next Monday, from BRS to LAX for 2 weeks that may well change EVERYTHING. (I’ll be blogging it at Bluehook meets Monty if anyone is interested.) So if that’s possible for that to even be on offer and for me to win it, then there’s every possibility of sharing a flight with one of you. 
 

wendii's picture
Submitted by wendii on Mon, 09/06/2010 - 15:54.

Good question!

@bluehook - thank you for sharing your experience and supporting my argument!

The competition is a great idea, I'll put that on the list of things for us to consider.

Thank you for sharing.

Wendii