Striving behind the numbers

So I've had threads of this article laying around on google keep for a while now, and after seeing a video of George Theodosiou's recent presentation, it seems a good time to drag it all together, whilst I'm in a creative mood, and have this widescreen record blasting out on a loop:

Let me be clear at this point I've seen some jaw dropping acts of kindness amongst the networking groups I've been to, in particular those #BNI chapters I've seen across Europe, so take what I have to say as a mere refresher, as even the highest performers need bringing back to earth every now and then.

Over the years I've been a member of three networking organisations the UK, and visited more branches than I can count. I've seen ALOT; some awesome things, met some top class people, but business can be cruel, and there would always be someone who couldn't make things work, be that with either their network, or their business. Often it was both. We can't avoid this; business is hard, people don't know what they don't know. Sometimes that person would leave their group, shut down their business, and in some cases be held up as an example of "what not to do". Some of these people though, did great things, and it would sadden us to come back and find their SME was another statistic in the failed business or failed networker columns. Again often both.

There was one person who really struck me. She was a confidence coach, but that term didn't do her justice, for she had a great niche in helping people, especially women when they had hit a real low point, and needed someone to drag them to their feet. She'd been a go to person at her local church for this sort of thing, and told us some great stories of getting drunk grooms out of bars when they were having a pre wedding panic. I'm not aware of what happened with her, but I was sorry to see that it hadn't worked out, mainly because I think there was a crowd of people who really did need her help.

Stats are useful, they help us keep tabs on our progress, notice the patterns, and plan our next moves. But there's some questions the numbers can't answer, many of which start with why. If it was all about hard work, there wouldn't be so many business books out there. Nor is simply about doing what the manual says, because those guidelines can still be read countless ways. Often the thin line between a striver's success and failure, in both networking and business, is drawn between one simple question; whether those around them gave the time and patience to help, advise, translate and encourage? Let us not be too pious; we can only spare so much time, and there are those who may never help themselves. Yet its worth asking ourselves, when we saw one of our fellow bootstrappers, falling behind, not with the program or looking like a shadow of their former, optimistic selves, what did we do? Did we gossip, throw stones, or did we say "Is there anything I can do to help?". Even in business, big calls are largely made on how someone feels at the given moment, and alot of that will come down to their self worth. Many a time I've seen people take plenty of heart, when someone else takes a bet on them. For if someone else thinks they're in with a chance of doing well, who are they to argue? Funny enough its quite common for a successful person to have known a point, maybe several where they were written off almost 360, and they tend to remember those who offered support in the darkest times.

Back to this presentation. Around the 7:20 mark someone stands up and tells of a time when a friend of theirs had been in dire business straights; at their wits end with nowhere to go. The presenting member had ended up giving them a whole hour of their time, without charge, to help them get back on track. I can only imagine what the 75 odd people in the room thought upon hearing that. I'm know his time is not usually with out cost; yet maybe this person wasn't one to write off.

Here's a shout out to all those taking a bet on their fellow strivers in business. God bless ya; others will see that you're not just in it for yourself, so there's no chance of losing!

And now the obligatory question; who did you last support, that others had written off?