I spent the last four days inside a hotel suite with 8 other folks. We had all-day meetings together. We ate together. It was exhausting – and I'm an extrovert.
So today was the first day in 161 days where I almost thought I would skip writing a post. Because I am drop-dead tired.
But then I reflected on the time we'd spent together and what I could take away from it that would help you.
Let's be honest, you don't care about the details of all those meetings. But my insight might really be helpful to you.
First, let me explain who was there. It was the founders and CEOs of the software companies we've recently acquired.
- Each of them have their own goals and objectives.
- Each of them have their own revenue targets.
- Each of them have their own needs and challenges.
Yet here we were, for three and a half days, talking about how we could foster collaboration between them. And that meant talking about all sorts of initiatives that could be seen as time-wasting, distracting, or disruptive.
You have the context, right?
Can you see yourself there – hearing someone talk about some initiative that you're not sure will help you, might distract you, and not being exactly sure what to say?
So here's my reflection.
You will need the help of others to succeed.
You can't do anything worthwhile alone.
I know it. You know it. But sometimes, if the discussions don't get shaped perfectly, it's easy to miss this key point.
I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. I have saved this / bookmarked this tweet to regularly remind me of this truth.
I'm tired. It was a long set of days and meetings.
But at multiple moments I saw this truth dawn on several of our software company founders – that there were other people in the room that wanted them to win.
It drove them to think bigger. To think about how they could help each other.
And when you learn to be generous and help others, you'll learn the Rule of Reciprocity (and how to make sure you don't go wrong).