October 8

Connections

Valued Connections…

Some connections you make on life’s journey
mean little to nothing. An interaction with
a gas station attendant, or a glance at an
old man passing you in the mall.

But at times, they’re critical and perfectly
timed by God.

Do we know WHEN…or WHY?

No…but they’re still important.

The timing of successful connections
sometimes can be seen right away… or
sometimes not at all.

Business connections sometimes pay off
RIGHT away…you meet someone, you
work a deal, boom…success.

Personal connections are trickier, but
they often follow the same path as
business connections…unpredictable 🙂

The Little Blogger That Could:

I remember when I was first starting out
and made a connection with a small blogger.
I was very excited about his business, his
potential, and just him as a person. High quality
all around.

At the time, others said ‘oh don’t waste
your time with him, he’s not big enough
yet to make a difference, move on.’ They
were the mean toys if you’ve ever read
“The Little Engine That Could” 🙂

They were right…he was small and didn’t
really move the business needle for a VERY
long time.

BUT…(of course there was a but)…

I maintained the relationship, advised
when I could, and always did my best to keep
close to him.

Thankful that I did because TODAY he is
one of the most sought after people to do
business with in our industry!

But…he doesn’t do business with many
because too many people wrote him off
from the start.

New South African Connection…JAIL!

Being here in South Africa we’re making
connections with new people DAILY. Just
a few minutes ago I made a connection
with a man named Mark who lives in
Ocean View, has his own hauling and tree
trimming business.

Yes, he can do some work for me, but I,
being someone who likes to chat, was more
interested in building MORE than business
relationships…I got to talking with him.

He opened up to me about his family, his
business, why he’s trying to help youth in
his community…AWESOME STUFF that
I would have never known about if I would
have just done a deal and moved on.

(Aside: He needs prayers for his son, who got
mixed up with the wrong people, made some
bad decisions, and is paying for them in jail.)

In our short interaction, he shared with me
more than ‘I’ve ever shared with anyone mon’
and to me…that’s exactly what connections are
ALL about!

What will our connection lead to…who knows?

But I’ll be praying for and finding stuff for Mark
to do so we can continue to foster a connection!

Both stories have an aspect of fostering a
relationship that became a valued connection.

One was established a LONG time ago and
has paid off many years later even when it
was hard/not worth it.

The other is JUST getting started with a
potential to make an impact in the Ocean View
township that could lead to more LivingHope
students and more lives changed..or just
Mark and I being friends 🙂

Both will CONTINUE to be fostered, not
with the goal of a ‘big payoff’…but with
the goal of a CONNECTION.

Because well-maintained connections
are never a bad investment.

All my best,
Brad

Things to think about…

Are you making your connections valued ones?

How are you managing your connections?

Are you building relationships with them
that might payoff in the future?

Are you OK with connections that never
pay off in your eyes…but maybe theirs?

Ask yourself honestly…and make changes.


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  • yea Brad your right, your relationships are critical.

    I have been thinking about personal and business relationships for a long time but more recently I have been diving into customer relationships. Those are really important also.

    Thanks

    • Yeah with customers it’s a fine line. Need to balance between helpful and relational, with, oversharing and over sourced.

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