Longterm Relationships
You’ve heard the saying — “Don’t ever burn a bridge.”
This phrase was ingrained into my head growing up, and I often feared upsetting or losing any single one. That is for another newsletter someday, but the general premise was true — I want more friends than enemies. The world is a small place, and you never know who will be a future colleague, collaborator, competitor, partner, or even boss.
I was reminded of this recently when I had breakfast with an old friend.
Scott and I having breakfast 🍳
Scott was a colleague of mine at Lemonly almost ten years ago. He’s a gifted designer and an even better thinker. He worked remotely for our South Dakota team from Miami and pushed me as both a leader and people manager. In fact, Scott was the first person I ever did an exit interview with. (Note: he left on great terms, but I had no idea how to do an exit interview, so I Googled questions and faked it with Scott).
Recently, this Floridian was passing through South Dakota and texted me as he was coming through. We caught up for dinner one night and breakfast the next morning, and it was so cool to hang out with someone who last knew me as a completely different person (20-something, newly married, no kids, relatively new entrepreneur).
Now we’re catching up with a bit more life (definitely more grey hairs) and a lot of great stories to share with other. It was such an enjoyable conversation and reminded me of that adage - never burn a bridge.
I didn’t have a reason to burn a bridge with Scott (he left to pursue a different type of role) but I also didn't have a reason to maintain a relationship with a former colleague across the country. But I did maintain that relationship. We randomly texted each other cool startup ideas. Right before COVID, we caught up on a particular business challenge he was facing. Communication was infrequent but meaningful, so when the Floridian was passing through South Dakota, he texted to hang out with an old friend.
Old Friends, New Collaborators
Midwesterners love to tell you about “the guy” they have in their life to accomplish a task or solve a problem. They’ll tell you about their “Roof Guy” or their “Bug Guy” or maybe even refer you to their “Snow Guy.” Right? You know what I mean.
We brag about the collection of relationships we possess that can help us for a very specific reason at a very specific time. It’s the Midwest way of showing off the quantity, and hopefully quality, of the relationships you possess.
Well, in a more modern/entrepreneurial way than my Dad bragging about his “Lawn Guy”, Scott is my “UX Guy.” No one is better at taking a crazy idea on the back of a napkin and designing it to look like a real product. And thanks to this talent, I am reminded of why you cherish all of those relationships, as Scott is an old friend turned new collaborator on a software idea that I’m building (more on that in a future Point Letter).
The point of this week’s letter - don’t burn a bridge, keep in touch with those unique relationships, and embrace the random and serendipitous ways our world brings two people back together.
