The other day I lined up to order coffee in a coffee shop in San Francisco. While in line, I noticed that a former Associate Dean of my business school was queued right behind me. He and I never overlapped at school, but I knew of him, and he still had a good reputation at the school.
After he placed his order, I approached him, and briefly introduced myself. Reading his face, I could clearly tell that he was surprised that I had introduced myself – despite our shared Stanford connection. So I told him: “I just wanted to say hi. Unfortunately I didn’t have a chance to overlap with you, but you still have a very positive legacy at the school and I wanted to let you know that.” Hearing that I had approached him without any ask or intentions, except just wanting to be nice, he visibly opened up and started showing interest in me. After a brief conversation in which I shared with him that I am looking for new work opportunities, we said good-bye and that was it.
What I didn’t know was that he was there with his wife, and after they finished their coffee, his wife walked up to me, gave me her business card, and said that she was hiring on her team. Turned out she was a VP at one of the companies that was on my target list. I thanked her briefly and they both moved on. This was weeks later and I am not in the process for a role in her organization.
For me, this entire story is a story of how the universe will always respond with the level of energy you put out there. I didn’t have to introduce myself to him. I didn’t have to let him know that he has a wonderful legacy at school. I could have easily just gone about my day. But I did believe it was a good thing to do, so I just did. The fact that his wife then appreciated the gesture so much that she gave me her business card is just a testament of how that energy can come back to you.