Last week I attended the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Houston. One point was brought home during one of our evening events by a friend I had only known in Social Media circles. We had never met in person. Yet we run in the same circles. We work with a lot of the same people. We belong to some of the same organizations. However, the fact is…we had never met in person.
As I was walking into the event on the first day I heard someone yell my name. Of course, I looked up. I pulled my face away from the ubiquitous smartphone in my hand. Calling my name was a friend I had only known on Facebook and LinkedIn. This was a fortuitous meeting and one that I was very glad happened.
Which is another thing to consider when evaluating your LOT in Life … Eyes Up!
I should add this as another point in the 8 Tips for Trade Show Success … Eyes Up & Open.
Which means … Pull your eyes away from the electronics in your hand and seek out the humans within your view and purview. You never know who you might run into … or who might recognize you from your Facebook or LinkedIn profile pic.
He paid me a very kind compliment
A few nights later we were at another event. One that I had a hand in arranging … it was a Post WPC BBQ where 20 or so folks got together to enjoy each others company while winding down from the conference. As we were chatting he told some of the folks around the table…some I knew before the conference and some I had just met that night…that even though we had just met for the first time in person that he has a LOT in me.
And he went on to explain that LOT means Level of Trust.
He said that because of the people we know in common, and the efforts he’d seen from me in the groups we are both involved with, and because of the things he’s seen in Social Media circles that he knows he can trust me. That I had built a Level of Trust with him.
I was flattered and floored by such a compliment. Trust is very important to me. I want to be known as someone who is trustworthy in both my personal and professional endeavors.
I assume this is true for everyone. However, as we all know there are some untrustworthy people out there. I hope that by reading this blog post this far you are not in that camp and that you too want people to know you by your deeds and that they can trust you to do what you say.
Is your word your bond?
People want to count on you to get stuff done. Can they?
If you say you are going to do something…Do you?
Even if it means you work late into the night or spend more time and effort than you initially expected?
- If yes, your LOT will continue to rise.
- If all you you do is find excuses for why it didn’t get done your LOT will drop … perhaps precipitously and in some cases permanently. (see Bring Solutions … Not Excuses).
Commitments Reflect Upon You.
Make sure you fully understand what is being requested before saying yes.
For people like me this is hard. I’m a pleaser. I like to help people. I like to say yes.
However, if you have worked with me for any amount of time you know that I will get whatever I said I would do done…even if it means working longer than expected. Also, if you know me you know that I may ask some difficult qualifying questions. Don’t be offended. Be happy I didn’t just say no outright. Because I do believe that you can Say Yes and Get Ahead.
So, Is Your LOT up to snuff?
If not…get on it.
- Be realistic is what you commit to.
- Ask tough clarifying questions to insure you understand what is being expected.
- Then execute and deliver on time…or early.
Your perceived LOT depends on it!
Note: This will be a series of three posts. The next one will be about LOI…your Level of Intent. And the last one will be about LOA…your Level of Accountability.
Also, in case you are wondering who I am speaking about … it’s Dr. Petri Salonen. Thanks Petri for the compliment and thank you for imbuing me with your personal Level of Trust. I will cherish it like a Seal of Approval.
Author:
Jeff is a veteran in the Enterprise Content Management industry. Over the past 20 years he has worked with customers and partners to design, develop and deploy solutions around the world. Jeff is currently the Director of Strategic Alliances at Winshuttle. He has worked for Microsoft, FileNet (IBM), K2, Captaris, Open Text, Kofax and Kodak. He speaks and blogs about ECM and the Intersection between Social, Mobile and Cloud Computing.
