Israel Romero / Wednesday, March 15, 2023 / Categories: Blog Find people, don't look for them. Finding, Not Searching The difference between these two words is large enough to know what one wants in life. For us, the most important thing is finding like-minded people, with whom building is easy and natural. Seekers or troubadours, two opposing models A real art, and not for everyone Affinity: a business accelerator When I started my working life for different companies, the main objective was to search for potential clients who could buy our services. At that time I was always in the service sector, so my “products” weren’t tangible — from advertising campaigns and events to sponsorship hunting or commercial promotions. My superiors told me that to generate business you always had to look for clients. Go hunting every day. Of course, channels like phone calls and email were much more respected than they are today — we’re talking early 21st century. And although I couldn’t complain about the success of my results, I felt like carving my own path. Seekers or troubadours, two opposing models I think we can distinguish two paths in life to obtain what one desires or longs for. The first is the path of searching. On the face of it, it’s the one most people use at least once... or always. The one, logically, we should follow to try to achieve our goals. You create a strategy to reach the key people in your business so you can get what you want, whether it’s a deal, a promotion, or simply progressing in your job. I don’t like this path because it clashes head-on with the way I think and act. When you search for someone and act sincerely, basing your strategy on human values like transparency, honesty, or sharing, you often find that the people in front of you aren’t the right ones for your goals. That happens for many reasons, but the main ones are these: almost nobody likes being “approached head-on,” directly and sincerely, with very clear motives. They produce the opposite effect to what you want — too good to be true, everything too obvious. The lack of subtlety creates more distrust than closeness. Disappointments, hypocrisy, misunderstandings are some of the “assets” this strategy yields. Still, we accept them and keep hunting for the “gold nuggets” in the form of people, because by probability it should happen. But we don’t have as many lives as a cat to assume it will always end happily. The second strategy is the one of finding people. But since you were searching for them — I mean the right people — that route might allow you to find them. It’s possible, but as I said before, you never know when that will happen or whether you’ll have the strength and life left to enjoy it. When I talk about finding a person or people, it must be done indirectly. So it should always be indirect, as if you didn’t want it to happen. The strategy is based on very direct and transparent communication about who you are and what you expect from professional life. Sharing your personal traits in your communication is essential to find your kindred spirits. Values, concerns, causes you stand for, positions — these traits will make it easier to reach those alter egos. Moreover, today’s society offers many channels to help you in this task. Social networks like LinkedIn have become essential to channel these currents in a more or less organized way. But like any tool, if misused, it produces the opposite effect. I say this about those who “search for you” on that social network and, without knowing you, tell you what they are and what they want to offer you. To me that approach is invasive and very negative. It generates almost instant rejection. They convey imposition, pressure, and there’s zero empathy. A real art, and not for everyone On the other hand, it’s a wonderful tool when you’re “indirect.” But what does that mean? It means you should communicate “to the sky,” not to a specific person. Convey your message(s) clearly, concisely, and transparently. Because it’s an indirect broadcast, it’s as if the message were encoded, and only those who can decipher it receive it correctly. That’s great because you do reach the target audience you had in mind. But you don’t control the timing — the reward, finding like-minded people, appears without knowing when it will. It seems risky, but I must say it’s a controlled risk. Why? Because for that you must use a communication strategy, a roadmap, so your message arrives clearly and consistently to your target audience. That way you’ll stimulate a small number of them and they’ll want to contact you. Pure art of human relations. Affinity: a business accelerator When the “encounter” happens, the feelings are indescribable. With just a few words it becomes clear that there’s agreement on many positions. And that allows everything to move much faster. How is that possible? Because in your communication you have conveyed your human values, and the other party, who also aligns with them, has seen themselves reflected and finds it much easier to “take the step” to meet and explore alliances or projects together. That is my secret — and it’s not so secret because I share it with you. The evolution of my professional life has shown me that you can only progress and grow with like-minded people at your side, people who remove bad karma and push you to limitless heights. To draw them near, like a magnet to metal, you must be yourself, not lie — that is, be sincere in your intentions and share values such as transparency, professional excellence, and honesty. I’m convinced of this because it has happened to me, and it’s the best way to find the people you need to succeed in your professional life. At Made in Spain Gourmet we didn’t know where to start “searching” for the people we thought we would need to carry the project forward. We knew what we wanted to achieve with our idea. So we DIDN’T go look for people; we preferred to find them along the way. And every day that passes, we meet wonderful people who only reinforce that spirit. Not only in Spain, but now we’re finding them all over the world. Our success is knowing how to communicate what we want to convey; the rest comes on its own, but because we communicate daily. Without consistency, forget this path. You’ll always be in the seekers’ group. And you — which path do you prefer to follow to achieve your goals? Sherry Vinegars... Olé! Ibéricos Maldonado: 100% pure Iberian ham Print 6 Rate this article: No rating Please login or register to post comments.