One important thing I learnt early in my career is that attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. People may hear your words, see your texts, but they feel your attitude.
In November 2017 I was in Chicago for a meeting with President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Aliko Dangote, Prince Harry, Tony Elumelu, Dr Strive Masiyiwa, Common and other great icons working on shaping the Obama Foundation, and that room was a goldmine of great networking opportunities, but the attitude of approach mattered.
LESSON: When calling/ texting/ emailing a high-level figure or anyone especially for the first time or someone who might not have your contact details please formally introduce yourself, it doesn't hurt.
PLEASE don't use short-hand/ emoji's or just say "Hi" or "Hello" and wait for them to respond. IT’S ANNOYING.
HERE IS AN EXAMPLE FOR TODAY’S TIP:
"Good morning sir/ma'am, this is _______ (Full name), the _____ (title/ position) of ______ (organization/ institution) from __________ (location/ country).
On ______ (date/ day) we ________ (activity both of you engaged in/ what they did) at _________ (location/ event). I am writing you to _________ (Introduce the purpose of your writing. You may share a link/ document or two to give further illustration of your point).
I appreciate ________ (acknowledge/ give gratitude to what they do/ did) and I am looking forward to __________. (Specify what you are looking forward to and the means of communication if necessary).
Best Regards.
NOTE: If you have not engaged with them before, just let them know how you came about to get their contact details and at this stage avoid asking for personal information such as place of residence/ age/ family etc.
In this way, ANYONE will be more considerably engaging and will probably reciprocate with that same level of respect, let them make it into an informal conversation if they want to, but don't assume they are ok with small talk.
ALL THE BEST.
Credit: #TeamMaestros
Charles Linpenga
