Successful entrepreneur, Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group is one of a handful of engaging leaders who has laid the foundations of their career on building and leveraging their network.
“Succeeding in business is all about making connections” -Richard Branson
Every day, as each of us go about our daily routine, we pass by people from all walks of life from cashiers to bankers to management consultants to students, classifying each with a label that tells us who they are without knowing who they are.
Rich, poor, ugly, beautiful, nerdy, smart, homeless, clumsy, stubborn… One word labels that govern our behaviour and interactions with that individual.
What if I told you that sometimes the bravest thing you can say is hello? Step into the workplace, your school, a local recreation centre or a party, and you will realize that there is a certain amount of risk involved in uttering this relatively simple phrase.
People’s Reactions Dictate our Actions
What if they judge me? What if they don’t like me? Trust me, I have been there and have had all of the same thoughts rushing through my head… that was until I met Jeremy on the streets of Vancouver three and a half years ago, but we will get into that a bit later.
Like many of you, I used to view a risk as trying something new and that still remains true to this day - but I really didn’t think a simple greeting would fall into this category.
Yes. We Label All People
…. but sometimes we choose to simply ignore them.
So, What?
Naturally, we don’t like to talk to everyone — So, whats the point of this article anyways? You may as well just click that red X in the top left corner of your screen.
But Before You Go…
I want you to think of the situation you are currently in… it could be negative, it could be positive — it could be something that you want to run home and tell everyone about or it could be something that makes you extremely unhappy.
Be honest, you didn’t just end up there, you didn’t walk into your job one day and just start grinding away, your didn’t simply wake up one morning with a deposit in your bank account from your latest round of fundraising and you didn’t become friends with that one person in high school just because society said you should have.
Hello.
What do all of these experiences have in common? They all started with a simple ‘hello’ …
Hello, my name is Robert, I am currently in interested in the Financial Analyst Position at my company. Hello, my name is Emily, I am the CEO of XYZ company and I am very interested in how your previous experience could benefit us as a strategic investor. Hey my name is Mark, how’s it going?
In a society focused on documenting our every mood, struggle and feeling, it is very easy to lose touch of the initial greeting that laid the foundation for our relationships.
We Live in a World of Information Overload
Our conversations are translated into likes, retweets, and emojis placing the utmost importance on being a contributor and not a listener — make it your mission to understand and empathize after making that initial connection.
4 Ways to Move ‘Hello’ Forward
1. The Cold Email
A cold email done right really isn’t cold. I have sent plenty of them and they are the main reason I have landed every deal, job, internship, and opportunity that I have ever had. Make Google your most powerful tool and find out every detail about the person you are looking to reach out to. What’s their story? How did they grow up? Where did they attend school? Did they even go to school? Remember that they were probably in the same situation as you at some point in their lives, but try and understand why you think you are on a similar path to them. After spending some time researching them, be honest, are you truly in a position to make that “hello” — Do you think you have been through a similar amounts of ups, downs and different experiences? If they don’t get back to you after a few days it’s okay - I said “hello” was the key — but I didn’t say it would be this easy. Ask any successful entrepreneur and they well tell you that persistence is the key … heck I just exchanged 68 emails with an entrepreneur before finally being able to set up a call with him.
My best tools to find out about people are: Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Crystal, Email Validity Checkers, and Email Format Databases.
But remember, not everyone maintains a significant online presence, so you might have to take a traditional route of finding the companies/individuals phone number or office address.
2. Delivering Value: Slide Decks/One-Pagers/Portfolios/Notes/Bullets
I don’t care what it is, but please offer that person some value before you even jump on the phone with them or begin exchanging emails. This could be in the form of a word document, jot-notes, some quick bullet points in an email — anything really. Even if you’re not a graphic design expert you can find a variety of templates on websites like ThemeForest & SlideBean that will allow you to express your ideas in a very visually appealing way. The reason I am so adamant about this is because there is a notion in society that we have to keep our ideas and visions secret until they are perfectly polished in our minds. This is not true! Never be afraid to tell your career story, share your thoughts on a personal project, or where you think you could help advance the company with your skills because if you don’t there is someone out there who will. I have included an example of my personal portfolio I sent to land my first internship at a prominent Silicon Valley titan below!
3. Have Questions Ready After That “Hello”
You finally got through! You’re pumped, but the conversation stops there. You have the interviewer on the line, the manufacturer you are looking to make the deal with, the friend from school you admired and looked up to… I am going to introduce you to amazing resources focused on key questions in all of these situations — most of which are entered around a “Why?” Remember, the most effective leaders are listeners before becoming contributors. Make that your mission!
4. What Do You Want to Selfishly Take From That Person?
I am going to steal this idea from the legendary TED speaker, Simon Sinek— What is the exact thing you want to selfishly take from that person?
Remember Jeremy...
Three and a half years ago, I met Jeremy, a man who was suffering from homelessness, that reminded me that “strangers are just friends that we have never met before.” After spending some time listening to his story, I learned that his sister worked at a firm that overlooked the place he slept every single night.
Had I simply passed by Jeremy, I would have never known about him or his story. I would have simply labeled him as another homeless man on the streets of Vancouver, but he was more than that.
Take a Risk — Say Hello.
All of us reading this post have a story, a voice, and a set of circumstances that have shaped our life experiences — take a risk, share your story with the world and let others share theirs because sometimes the bravest thing you can say is hello.