Ever been blown away by something that to others may seem insignificant?
In the last 18 months since my coaching appointment in junior hockey ended, I’ve learned to open myself up to more awe, gratitude, and “looking for the good” in things.
My Dad used to make a big deal about, “the little things” when I was growing up.
Saying please and thank you
Looking people in the eyes
Recognizing when someone had their hands full and jumping up to open a door for them
Do them, teach them, and here’s the kicker…
When you take the time to recognize them, life gets better…
I’ve written about a voicemail I received after applying for jobs last summer. After being ignored, laughed at, told I didn’t fit, didn’t belong, didn’t have enough experience, didn’t win enough, etc… Someone finally modeled the professionalism I hoped existed everywhere but learned… only exists in great people.
Recently, someone else showed me how to respond to a request at a higher level than I knew existed.
Professional Response
I’ve emailed a lot of coaches in the last 2 years. Some I’ve just asked to chat with. Some to apply for an open position. Others, to just introduce myself and my work and maybe build a bridge to a new relationship.
Recently I asked a coaching friend if he would write a little blurb for my newsletter signup page to tell prospective coaches the value he is getting out of being a subscriber to our community…
His response to that request was incredible:
Hey Drew! Certainly. I’m going to get back home late tomorrow night and will have it on my list of things to do this week. If you don’t hear from my by Thursday, would you mind circling back?
If you’re asking yourself… What’s so great about that?
I can understand that this could seem underwhelming since I’ve been hyping it up for this entire piece.
If you’re feeling let down, let me open your eyes to what I see.
The Norm (for me)
90% of my email and DM reach outs get ignored. Ignores are not great because they close the door to any possibilities.
In improv, getting a response from someone can move the story forward. Responses are good, “yes and” responses are better. Keep the ball in the air.
Tanner is not a “cold” reach out at this point in our professional relationship, so I expect my chances of getting a response from him are much higher. But, it’s also not owed to me, so anytime I get a response, I’m grateful.
What Tanner Taught Me: Close the Loop
If the coach doesn’t ignore you, the response they do give often doesn’t close the loop.
When you make an “ask”… They might often respond to you with:
Yeah, let me reach out to my buddy and see
Yes, I’ll look into it today
Yes, I’ll call you by the end of the day
But then they don’t call you back by the end of the day… Then what?
Should you bother them? Should you circle back? Today? Next week?
Doing any of the above creates an open loop. Humans hate open loops, we try our best to close them all, because if not, they stay running in our brain.
Is anyone still thinking about my opening line question?
If you’re still racking your brain for something that seems insignificant to some but blew you away… It’s because I created an open loop up there.
Great for good writing, bad for communication with your network.
If you do what Tanner did, you:
give permission
close the loop
keep the line of communication open
If you don’t hear from me by Thursday, would you mind circling back?
This allows “you” permission to reengage after a certain period of time to close the loop.
It’s something I’ve never seen before from a professional and I wanted to share it with you. It’s a little thing.
It will be the standard that I operate from going forward, maybe you’ll adopt it too.
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