Too Busy To Connect?

The other day I was reading Jill Konrath's blog. I liked her topic and advice and posted a comment.

The next thing I knew, Jill e-mailed me to thank me for posting on her blog.

You might not think this is such a big deal, but it is. Not because of who I am, but because of who Jill is. Jill is the author of Selling To Big Companies, Snap Selling and the recent Get Back To Work Faster. Jill is also a popular speaker.

In her niche, Jill is a big deal, well known, quoted and referred to. She is a Superstar.

As I thought about this simple e-mail from Jill, here are a few lessons I've "re-learned." 

• Connecting with others is a matter of priorities; it's not a time managment issue.

Jill priortizes reaching out to others. That says a lot about her.

• Whether or not  I connect with others has more to say about me than it does anyone else.

Jill didn't reach out to me because I'm as well known. I'm not.

She reached out to me, not because of who I am, but because that's who she is.

• You never know what will happen when you make a connection to someone.

Jill certainly didn't know that I would blog about her in such a public and popular arena such as womenworking.com.

• The more successful we are, the more important it is to remember others, reach out to them and say "thank you."

Jill and I have never met, spoken to or e-mailed each other before. She had no reason to think that I could ever really benefit her.

Yet, here she was saying "thanks for posting on my blog." Jill is successful and busy. But evidently not too busy to remember that we never get to big to reach out to others when we can.

These are a few lessons Jill reminded me of. Thanks Jill!

http://www.alanallard.com Alan is a consultant, executive coach and speaker.