Keeping Connected: People First

Some years ago I realized that my focus on technology was a suboptimal ordering of my priorities. Sure technology is excited and new and such, but this is exactly why it should be prioritized lower than relationships with people.

Consider the longevity of the people, companies, and products/technologies we are working on today. The people will outlast the companies. The companies will outlast the technologies. In 20 years most of the technologies and companies we are working with today will be long gone. The many of the people we will continue to run into. Why? Well, each person is an independent being with a will and motivation to adapt as necessary to stay relevant in the industry. Companies try to do this and many succeed. And many fail. People are so much more resilient.

One challenge I have seen is keeping in touch with people as they move and switch companies. I rely on LinkedIn.com greatly. It stores information about what companies I worked at and when. It also stores acquaintances I have made and these connections are verified by both people.

Why is this useful? A few weeks ago I reconnected with someone I worked with 18 years ago. How did this occur? We had both entered in the company and years we worked there. LinkedIn offered a suggested that we might know one another, and sure enough we did. A week later I reconnected with Larry who I worked with 14 years ago.

This morning I was riding my bike as a test commute to the office. I stopped at Starbucks and bumped into Paul who I worked for last year. He had received a patent plaque from my last patent and had not been able to locate contact info for me. I reminded him that we are connected through LinkedIn and that gives him access to my profile including contact email, CV/Resume URL, blog URL, and my current status. He had not though of LinkedIn as a resource in that way.

So how much effort does linked in take to maintain? About one per month, I spend perhaps 30 minutes looking to see if there is anyone new I should send requests to. In email footers I display my LinkedIn public profile URL. And I encourage people to use it as a tool to stay connected with people and show people that you value your connect to others.