It is truly amazing how quickly you can reconnect with your network–if you keep it breathing.
Recently a major assignment ended and I found myself looking for the next gig. Almost immediately I began calling, emailing and posting to friends, colleagues and clients, checking in with them. While the motive was somewhat about wanting to generate revenue, it was mostly about catching up. I’d been out of circulation a bit and wanted to focus again on those people, projects and issues that mean the most to me.
What I was struck by was the speed at which I was able to connect with even former clients. People genuinely reached back to me when I reached out to them. Even new acquaintances opened up and connected with me.
So in taking stock of this phenomenon, I stepped back and realized that those that had connected (or reconnected with me) were in two camps:
- Those who had been in recent or regular contact with me.
- And those who were always there for me.
The first group included some of those “newbies” that I had just met: the plant manager, the HR guy, the safety manager. They connected with me recently and wanted to keep the connection. These people became my gateway to the future–fresh opportunities and ideas and messages. I learned a lot in my last assignment and met really nice people–they were the “profit” I had to show from my time spent at the job.
The second group are like that saying that “good friends go for years without speaking and then pick up years later as if it had only been yesterday that they had last spoken.” For that, I am truly grateful–and blessed. Old friends spent time over meals and on the phone with me to hash out ideas and concepts and help me replay possible project meetings.
So keep those fires burning, both fresh and long term. Relationships all mean something. And they can mean the world to you when you need a conversation, a recharge or even revenue.
Relentless
