(One Way To) Meet Busy People
Here is another practical tip (after my last post which covered todos): Something I learned the hard way being on both sides of the equation — How to meet with busy people.
This is how it plays out: Someone sends me a nice email telling me that they are in the area; that they like what I am doing; would love to learn more and ask if I have time for coffee sometime soon (often suggesting some specific dates).
So far so good…
Sadly (or luckily) I do have a lot to do. My calendar is typically pretty full — and the spots which are not taken, I fiercely protect to make sure I have enough time during the day to get my todos done (see also my last post). And even if I would find some time (theoretically), I keep that slot open, to give me a chance to meet with someone I would love to meet.
In consequence, that means that I have to say no to coffee meetings… :(
Here’s the hack (and I have used this many times now as the person who requests a meeting — with great success): Most of us need to eat something during the day. Instead of suggesting coffee — which is time out of my calendar I would rather spend on something productive/work-related — ask for lunch. And not just “hey — can I buy you lunch” but more specifically:
“Hey — how about I buy you lunch? Tell me what you like and I will get lunch for us, come to your office and we can sit down for 30 minutes over food and talk. You don’t need to do anything; it will only take 30 minutes, and I will come to your office.”
That way you solve a problem for me (I need to eat something), you make the experience easy for me (you are not asking me to come to a restaurant, which easily takes me an hour, requires me to get into my car, find a parking spot, etc.), you keep it short (busy people typically can’t do hour-long lunches) and convenient (all I need to do is show up)… Win-Win.
As said: I tried this dozen of times with folks I want to meet (and who are even busier than I am) and it worked pretty much every single time!
Give it a try and let me know how it works for you.
This post is part of the “The Heretic”, Pascal Finette’s insights into leadership in exponential times. For entrepreneurs, corporate irritants and change makers. Raw, unfiltered and opinionated — delivered straight to your inbox. You will like it. → https://theheretic.org
