Your Unexpected Impact on People

I'm always weirded out by the unexcepted impact I have on people.

An industry colleague landed an amazing job. I sent him a congrats note, and suggested coffee when he was in town. We had that coffee this morning, and I asked him how he landed such an amazing job which was a huge shift from his last role.

He said - you.

I was like, WTF?

Apparently, I introduced him to a few people a few years ago which set off a chain of events, and he credits his success to me.

Yeah I can't tell you the number of people who tell me I inspire them

Davos, I'm expecting you get this daily...and twice on Sundays. ;)

No no, once a week max

I've been listening to a podcast called Heavyweight which deals a lot with stories of just that - tracking down eg the high school football coach who changed a kid's life by giving him a hug when his mother had just died, to let that coach know what it had meant (and hear actually that this tiny thing had also had a profound impact on the coach). Similarly, people tracking down others to apologise or to right a massive wrong that they've been stewing upon for decades - and inevitably half the time it turns out that the wronged party had never felt wronged in teh first place. It's absolutely charming (there are some whack episodes too but inevitable with several series of something). strong recommend from me.