Turning Conversations to Opportunity

It was a few weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon. I took my mom to lunch to see one of her friends from kindergarten, yes, kindergarten. These women have stayed in touch and maintained a friendship throughout their entire lives.

My mom’s friend also brought her son, I have known him my entire life. 

We were all chatting and catching up and of course, the conversation turned to business. 

There are opportunities that will come out of this lunch I could never have planned for, but when they came my way, I was able to embrace them.

It’s often the “lunch on a Sunday,” “coffee on a Tuesday,” “walk in the park Wednesday” where we develop and strengthen our relationships and find possibilities.

When conversations are organic and not forced, everyone is able to feel more comfortable opening up and sharing. Are you scheduling in time to just connect and get together with your family, friends, colleagues, mentors?

As the world is opening up a bit more and the warm weather is here on the East Coast, there are a lot more options to get together outside. 

One of the things we discussed during our lunch was that women are doers and men are delegators. Both very important roles, but interesting to see how women tend to do tasks without asking for support (even if they need it) and men will ask for that support (without hesitation). 

It’s these real-life conversations that can show us a new side, a different perspective, a better way, a simpler way, a new way. They make us think, help us grow and encourage us to explore. 

My team member was telling me she takes walks with one of her good friends a few times a month, who also happens to be an entrepreneur, and they use some of that time to brainstorm new ideas with one another about business and get instant feedback. 

Sure, an email or a note is nice, but really talking to someone, hearing their voice and how they are responding, can help you as you create your next program, or shift your service, or raise your prices, or pivot to your next big thing. 

I always say relationships are the golden ticket to success. And based on my story above, it’s not just business relationships. My mom met a girl in kindergarten that ended up being a lifelong friend and because of that, I met her son, which created opportunities decades and decades later. It’s really so interesting to hear how people end up knowing one another.

Look at your network and the network of people around you. Keep planning the conversations and the chats. Ask for support, be a resource and watch the results filter in!