The most powerful multiplier I have ever seen is one conversation at a time.

Yet so many people miss out on opportunities because they are focused on “bigger” and “better” and “more’.

Let me explain this with the story of a woman who was so focused on “more” that she missed an incredible opportunity, right in front of her face…   

The most amazing women I know

A coach I know sent me an email. She asked if I would be willing to connect her with one of my friends who is a world renowned author and teacher. 

I asked her to send me a few lines about what she is up to and why she’d like an intro, so I could set a conversation up most powerfully. 

She emailed back that she had a community of business women and would like my friend speak to them about women and burn out. 

Tell me a little more, I said. 

But while I was awaiting her reply, it dawned on me that I have a community that includes some of the most extraordinary women I have ever met. 

So I sent a follow-up email. 

Hey, would you like me to connect you with some of the most amazing women I know? Let me tell you about a few of my clients: 

1. Mandy Lehto was a London-based director at an international investment bank. She has a PhD from Cambridge University. She’s an overachiever who burned out and came through on the other side. Her coaching clients include IBM, Lloyd’s of London, Rothschild, Bulgari and Nestle. And she’s written for The Sunday Times, Psychology Today and Psychologies magazine. Mandy is a member of 4PC.
2. Hayley Carr won 9 Karate world titles. She broke two world records. And achieved a third dan Black belt in record time. But eventually her body couldn’t cope and she became so sick and burned out that she could barely take care of herself, let alone compete, for 3 years. She recovered, returned to competition, and won her final world karate title. She’s also a trained architect and she’s been a Leadership Consultant to successful leaders, athletes and entrepreneurs – for over a decade. I trained Hayley in high-level client creation.
3. Danielle Macleod was a head of HR at 26. She had a corporate career for over 15 years and was Director of Customer Service at Sky – a multi-million dollar corporation – where she led 10,000 call centre advisors to high levels of performance. And yet during her childhood she struggled with an eating disorder and feeling like she didn’t fit in. She now leads a community of remarkable women leaders, who are changing corporations from the inside out. Danielle was a 1:1 client. 
4. Shelley Paxton spent twenty-six years as a highly regarded marketing and advertising executive stewarding some of the world’s most iconic brands, including Harley-Davidson, Visa, McDonald’s, and AOL. Burned out, she began the next stage of her career as a coach to high-level leaders. Shelley is a member of 4PC.
5. ​Helen Appleby is the former Vice President of a billion dollar healthcare company. She left corporate partly because she was so lonely as a successful woman leader. And now she’s a leading light in corporate coaching, teaching women executives the “Unwritten Rules” that will transform their careers. Helen was a member of 4PC.

I love writing about my clients.
I am so proud of what they are creating. 

And then I noticed the email from the woman had sent me had an attachment. It had information that surprised me, so I emailed her back: 

I just saw the requirement on your speaker sheet that they send 2 emails to their list. And that their list must have at least 5,000 people. 

I would be happy to connect you to any of these amazing women but not if that is a prerequisite. I don’t want them to have an obligation to share things with their list – because there is nothing more precious to people than their community.

She replied: 

That’s just how it works. Everyone pitches, to promote.
But I understand.
Thank you for offering.

I was stunned.

I was about to introduce her to some of the most incredible women I know. 

These women would have been an amazing asset for her event. 

They could even have been incredible friends or collaborators down the road. But because I wouldn’t ask them in advance to email their list about a person they hadn’t even met yet, she was willing to walk away from this connection. 

She put pitching and promotion over people.

I recommend you do the opposite.

Put people over pitching and promotion.

You’ll be astounded at how you grow as a business.

 

The weekly sermon

I was talking to Dean Jackson, a friend who is a world expert at marketing. I mentioned that we have an email open rate of around 35%. Apparently that is pretty good but I mentioned that I often spend days and days and hours and hours crafting the emails I send to my community.

It felt a little depressing that 65% of them might not ever read a particular email.

Dean stopped me in my tracks with a brilliant reframe.

He said, Rich, you have a community of over 10,000 people. That means that every Saturday, 3,500 people read the emails you send them.

That’s like you have a mega church and each weekend, three thousand five hundred people line up to hear you speak.

Wow. That blew my mind.

So, first – thank you for reading. Thank you for being here. I am glad you are a member of my community.

And second – on my calendar, when it is time for me to write to my community each week, it now reads: “Write the Weekly Sermon!”  

Loving you.
Rich