I’ve noticed a number of my connections on LinkedIn have posted a wonderful message to offer their help and support to those they’ve worked with in the past during this time, which continues to be turbulent for many. I’m fortunate enough to be doing some exciting consulting work at the moment, but I’m also having conversations about permanent roles, which is my long-term goal and continues to take up a considerable amount of my focus.
Personally, I’ve always been reluctant to call in a favour or to use my network for help, as per the usual advice. For some reason I’ve always been more comfortable to be the person giving the support rather than asking for it. If I’m honest, I’ve feared rejection, which for me is a lack of response or a lack of support when I’ve asked for it.
Recently I’ve challenged myself, that whilst continuing to support others, I need to reach out more, to use my network and frankly, to stick my neck out to get help where I need it. This might be requesting an introduction to a shared contact, asking for a personal recommendation or simply just having a chat with someone who knows an industry or company better than I do.
I’ve had the most amazing and heart-warming responses from many contacts and friends who have gone out of their way to support me, and I’d like to celebrate some of these. People like M; who not only introduced me to a hiring manager but also gave me some incredible coaching and context which was invaluable. Or C, who opened up his LinkedIn contacts to me and personally introduced me to a handful of helpful contacts. H has also been amazing, she topically sends me roles that she thinks would be of interest to me, in case I haven’t seen them. J drove 100 miles and brainstormed with me over a pizza so that my head was in the right space for an interview the next day. The list could and does go on!
On the other hand, there have been some disappointing experiences too. Contacts who simply haven’t found the time to reply to my rare request for help, emails or text messages left unanswered or those who are simply not prepared to use their network to help me. It’s hard not to take this personally, especially when I would be the first to respond to a request for help from someone I know.
This got me thinking, do we realise the power that each of us has to help others? Most of us would agree that kindness is something we strive for on a daily basis, yet how often do we dedicate time to action that? It takes seconds to send an introduction email or to respond to a text, yet the impact that this can have is immeasurable. The reality is, many of us have a different struggle on our hands at the moment. Whether that’s redundancy, furlough, pay-cuts, budget-cuts or even a significantly increased pace and relentless workload; irrespective of our current position, we all struggle at some point and we will all need help from others.
I’ll continue to seek help and support others where I can. Just this week, I’ve made an introduction to two great people who need to know each other, I’ve shared a personal recommendation to all of my LinkedIn contacts for a brilliant person who has sadly been made redundant and I’ve talked to a couple of people who are struggling, so we’ve lifted each other up. Imagine the results if we live each day with the mindset of looking for opportunities to help others in the most small and invisible ways, remembering that the impact a few seconds of our time can have can be life-changing for someone.