The Company We Keep

I found myself on a plane last week with a man I’d met barely two weeks ago. Having recently taken a Board position, it was business. I found him intriguing. Young, brash, charming, intense…and he had a South African accent. What more do you need in a traveling companion? Did I mention he’s half my age? So stop thinking what you’re thinking. But we had a ball…Went to a dive for dinner and had an Arrogant Bastard (sorry, yet again less exciting than it sounds…a slightly bitter beer), we presented together the next morning– had a great time, and were on our way back home, even landed early at the airport Friday night at 5. Most refreshing thing I’ve done in ages despite my original complaint over the dreaded business trip.

Flash forward to last night, having a late night conversation with a dear friend over drinks. We were discussing Linked In – whether it was an improvement when it came to networking. He objected on principal alone, pointing out that there’s more value to a small network where you know everything about the people in your network – where they work, what their kids names are, where they went to school. His attitude was that a “velvet rope” around your life creates demand and intrigue. Does anyone really want what everyone else can get?

Which got me to thinking about my South African friend. While I don’t disagree there is value in a small, tight knit group of friends you know would come bail you out in the middle of the night, I’m not sure I want to rope off others. Had I stayed behind my velvet rope, I certainly never would have gotten on the plane and flown halfway across the country with my new friend. It’s not so much about the quantity of friends behind the rope, it’s about the quality. Do they inspire us? Intrigue us? Charm us? Bring out in us qualities that force us to discover new frontiers and try new experiences?

Life’s short. I think it will be far more fun to fill the space behind the velvet rope with more and more intriguing folks than focus on keeping them out. Maybe Linked In isn’t the way to do it, but I do love the idea of filling my life with interesting new faces from new places…and new accents. So disregard the velvet rope and enter at your own risk. There’s lots of us back here.

Ciao, Jules