Some time ago, I waited in line for my coffee and was chatting about my HBDI results to the person next to me in the queue. The person behind her heard our conversation and joined in – commenting on how we were about opposite in our profiles. Further chatting revealed this person to be a project manager at a time when I was managing ‘the’ project from hell.
And so it began – this random person, took me on as their ‘project’ to show me the ways of a professional project manager .. What was in it for her, I was never quite sure. She was from a different part of the company, different function etc. There seemed no obvious upside for her in our regular catch ups. And yet, she persevered. Ultimately – to my benefit and the benefit of the project.
That was 18 months or so ago. And had passed from my memory until this week when a random call from a contact wanting to know if I knew of her. He had a great opportunity, this person’s name had been put forward, he knew I used to work for said company – did I know her?
What a delight to be able to repay my debt in part by sharing the story of how we came to be acquainted. I hope the opportunity will now come her way and career advancement for her.
It’s a simple story. A gentle one. But an important one. Do unto others as you would want them to do to you.
