I get an average of 20-30 new LinkedIn connection requests each month. The vast majority of those are from people that I don’t know.

Assuming that it is not someone bizarre and random, each of these people get a response that says, in effect:

“Thanks for your invitation to connect on LinkedIn. However, I have a strict policy of only connecting with people that I know personally. That said, I see that we move in similar circles and I am always interested in meeting smart and interesting people. So if you would like to schedule some time to either chat by phone or meet, I will be open to that. Let me know. I look forward to getting to know you.”

Generally, one of two things happens. I get nothing. Just radio silence. Like the request was never there.

Frankly, I just don’t get it. Something in my LinkedIn profile was interesting enough for them to request the connection, but when I offer to make it a “real” connection, they don’t want to pursue it? I can only surmise that they are simply “LinkedIn Collectors” whose sole aim is to collect as many contacts as possible. To what purpose, I don’t know. But I figure that I’m no worse off.

On the other hand, a number of people respond enthusiastically. It may take a while, but we schedule a call or a meeting and we talk. We share our histories. We talk about what we see happening in the IT industry and our own personal aspirations. Generally, there is a connection. A kindred spirit. There are actually a large number of people in my network that I consider friends, compatriots and mentors whose relationship was started this very way.

What a waste it would have been to have simply accepted the invitation and failed to actually build a relationship!

I am proud of the fact that several people have told me that they have adopted a similar policy. I think that the more relationships we build, the better off we all are. But why am I ranting on about my LinkedIn “policy” and what does this have to do with IT?

To Service or Serve?

Well, the same rule applies with every interaction that we have within IT organizations. Are we simply going to be collectors, processors, implementers, managers and facilitators. Moving from one interaction – one transaction – to the next without creating any real connections? In a lot of IT organizations, that’s exactly what happens.

But what would happen if instead, we took the time to build real relationships with our customers. What if we didn’t simply “service them”, but instead served them? All of them. Not just their “IT needs”, but their human needs too.

I have seen people do this and the results are spectacular. Here’s one example from outside of the world of IT.

Ken Blanchard tells the story of how he addressed an employee meeting of a large grocery chain and gave them a similar message of caring for people and having an impact with every interaction. So one grocery store bagger named Johnny (who happened to have Downs Syndrome) decided that he could encourage the people that he met each day. Each night, he would write out a “thought for the day” and make 300 copies of it. The next day, he would simply say something to the effect of “Thanks for shopping with us” and put his thought for the day in their bag.

After about a month of this, the store manager is walking through the store and is upset to see that there is a long line at the registers and immediately calls for more cashiers. But the other cashiers were already there. People were voluntarily waiting in line so that they could see Johnny and get his thought for the day. Soon, it spread to the entire store and the entire staff was looking for ways to connect in a real and caring way with their customers. It transformed the store.

Relationships come in many forms. But it really comes down to making sincere and real connections with people. Caring about them in a deeply human way.

It is the key that will unlock a transformation in every IT organization. Relationships. Seek them out. Build them. Nurture them. Protect them. It will change everything.

P.S. You can read Johnny’s full story here: http://lets-inspire.blogspot.com/2009/03/johnny-bagger-written-by-ken-blanchard.html

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