Give to Get

Attended a wonderful dinner and conversation last night with some of the smartest, hardest-working, innovative people in the NYC advertising technology community last night.

One of the most fascinating aspects was to observe the networking. Dinner was followed by a moderated discussion of the industry, and with a room full of senior professionals and entrepreneurs who've grown or are growing the companies whose success will shape the industry itself, the opinions were deeply held and candidly expressed.

Afterwards, as we mingled and discussed the debate and got to know one another, I was struck by one participant, the most outspoken and forthright in his ambition to win big and define the industry on his company's terms. Terms at odds with several of his competitors in the room.

But in person he was charming, gracious, and seemed to put one thing ahead of all others, how he might be able to help you. And not consultative/sales help, investing social capital help. 

Now this individual was one of the most professionally successful in the room, and had already displayed a very healthy competitive instinct. Watching him looking for ways to help, questioning, learning more to see if there was any way he could be useful, was for me a powerful lesson of "give to get" in action. 

I believe the smartest entrepreneurs and professionals use this concept in virtually every situation, excepting perhaps the witness box of a courtroom, because they know, or have learned from experience, who "wins" in these situations. When one person receives your help, that's one person getting some help from you, be it knowledge, an introduction, a bit of free consulting, whatever. But when you /give/ your help to fifty people, and 20% of them "convert" on returned favors, that's 10 lifts for you and/or your business. Those focused returns can be the difference between closing or losing the next deal, the next investment, or in our case, landing the next job.

Give to get. Follow the lead of countless winners in the game of life and help as many people as you can in as many ways as you can possibly think of, and you will get back far more than you will ever give away.