I love meeting new
people. It is always fun to sit down and
connect, exploring how you can help one another.
But lately I ‘ve been
inundated with introductions – people who think I just have to meet “Jane”; or folks
who I’ve just met and want to expand on the discussion or new members who want
to “pick my brain.”
While I would love, well
most of the time, to meet everyone, there are just not enough hours in the
day. Plus I live in the country so
travel and the time to travel becomes an issue and a huge deterrent.
It is becoming harder and
harder to manage these e-introductions.
Oh I can quickly email back to say nice to meet you, but it’s the next
step that gets cumbersome – they want to meet, Skype, chat with you on the
phone – all of which is time.
When you run your own
business, time is a precious commodity and I find it hard to dole it out to complete
strangers. Sure some sound interesting,
but with others you just don’t see the connection or if it is a male speaker, I
feel like saying from the get-go “you know I don’t use male speakers, as I want
the women to see role models of their own gender.” But how do you do all that, without seeming
rude?
And that may be part of my
problem, I was brought up to be polite, treat people with respect, etc… but
then I also ask myself if these new “friends” are treating me with
respect? Do they know how busy I am?
Yet, I have to say that through
a series of connections, I met someone who is based in Vancouver and who is now
speaking at my conference. So it does
work. But then when I look back, part of
it was that the ‘referral’ came from someone I know well and who I trust. The other intriguing factor that made me pick
up the phone, was she has my maiden name – so it was like calling myselfJ
All of which goes to say,
working out how to manage all these requests is challenging. One thing I have learned is that as soon as
someone says she wants to “pick my brains” my antenna goes up. This is not going to be a quick call. In fact, if I were still a consultant, I’d
want to be charging for my time.
So there you go, this is
my dilemma. What do the rest of you
do? I am sure I am not alone with the
challenges of managing the “want to-get-to-know-you” people in your life. Send me some solutions. And don’t worry, we don’t have to meet, Skype
or chat on the phone. Just add your comments.
