I met with a businessperson the other day who I had known of but hadn’t really talked to. He was open and forthcoming with details of his large business. I found it refreshing and before I knew it I was telling him things about my business that I wouldn’t normally tell someone new.
Many take the opposite approach and hold their cards close, whether it be about business or their life, so they don’t get hurt/taken advantage of/look imperfect. But when talking to other human beings, the sooner we drop the illusion of perfection, the sooner we make real connections.
Trust begets trust.
Thank you for sharing that! I have always done that naturally, to share my feelings or what is really going on with me, to give of my time and service, and it does feel good and takes the weight off. However you are right I have been told by many close to me that I should not do that because it shows weakness and vulnerability, but it’s who I am and I can’t change it. So your blog this morning make me very happy.
You guys do a great job with your blogs, keep up the amazing work!
I have experienced the sane Larry. Especially within my rather narrow field. There is a misconception that you threaten your business by “giving away trade secrets”. Nothing is further from the truth. By building trust with competitors, we find ourselves stronger by learning from each other.
Absolutely agree. My instincts have been good on this. I have been “burned” on a couple of occasions but the benefits have definitely outweighed the minor inconveniences when the other party wasn’t as trustworthy as I thought. Having said that, I continue to trust my instincts and continued to learn from many great people.