A close friend shared his recent experience with one of his colleagues from the past – John (not his real name).
John was seeking some advice from my friend as he was starting his new business. My friend was happy to help him out. After one meeting, John continued to call my friend stating he really didn’t anything else – just some advice. In the third meeting, John wanted my friend to introduce him to a few potential clients and a few potential investors. What John told him was “I really don’t want to take more than 30 minutes of your time. If you send five or ten emails to these customers and investors introducing me, I will take it up from there”
Guess how many introductions he got? NONE.
What was John’s problem?
Actually, there were many. Let me list a few:
2nd Problem: Equated time spent with the value received. He thought the value that my friend provided was the time he spent on making those introductions. That is hardly the case. If it was, anybody could spend those 30 minutes and make those introductions. An introduction to a person of power may be one of the biggest favors that someone can make to you. Not acknowledging that is a SIN.
3rd Problem: He sort of insulted my friend by trying to “sneak in” and get the benefit “under the radar” What my friend was upset about most was that John undermined his intelligence to see through John’s game.
John’s loss: