Korean Wisdom on an Elevator

I love traveling and experiencing new cultures. It seems that no matter what country I go to, what conference I speak at, or what trainings I do, people all over the world have a fundamental understanding of the power and importance of a strong network.

This is a poster that was hanging in an elevator in a building in the Gangnam District of South Korea. I was lost, as I often am when I take off in a city I do not know. I was trying to find the Post Office, but what I found instead was this poster.  It paints such a visual picture of exactly what a strong network looks like, a web that ties individuals together in a common bond that grows stronger as the relationships develop.

 I was so caught off guard finding this poster in an old elevator, just days after I had finished teaching Korean business owners how to build their networks, that I rode the elevator to the top 3 times before I realized I could take a photo of it.

 As I looked at the poster I wondered why it was hanging in an old elevator. What was the intention of the message? Who was the message for? It seems such an odd place to see this kind of poster but I was delighted to see it. I write, teach, speak and coach on the importance of building a network based on relationships of mutual trust and after 3 days of intense training there on an elevator, in an old building in the heart of the city, the entire training was summed up in 2 sentences.

I am sure that this photo will show up in many of my trainings moving forward.