Sunday, May 27, 2007

Chances of Meeting


If I were to tell you that I was going to take away a 50% chance of you meeting someone that could help you be more successful, what would you say to that?

This past week, I attended a networking event, where there was a lunch. People sat at round tables.
I said "hello" to two people I had met when I was asked to speak to their sales meeting several weeks ago.

They sat next to each other.

They cut in half their opportunity to meet someone who might help further their success.

It always blows my mind when I see this happen.

Why don't they just stay in the office to develop that relationship further and save the cost of the lunch?

Yes, I know, there was an opportunity to either side of each of the offenders.

But what if that one person was not helpful? There was no fallback. They were done.

Tell me. Why don't networkers get it. Sitting next to people you know is limiting, unless that person is someone who can help you be more successful in the future.

And believe me, if your table mate is your office mate doing the same thing you do, you're really dumb.

Comments?

2 comments:

Sandy of Sandy's Stuff for Women said...

I agree! But I encountered some difficulty at first when wanting to not sit with a friend.

But I heard someone else say what eventually helped me.

The next time someone said, "Sit by me - I saved you a seat," I say, "Let's catch up later. I want to sit with people I don't know yet. It'll help you if you do the same."

Were their hurt feelings? Maybe. Will I do it again? Definitely.

Debby said...

Oh, I like that, because I've run into the same issue from time to time. You're good.