Getting to "No"

I invited a legend in my industry to dinner today. He’s quite possibly the smartest person I’ve met in my business, and simply the act of picking up the phone to call him with a question made me shake in my boots. I was absolutely sure I’d bumble and crumble and he’d end up dismissing my juvenile questions with a polite but firm “I have a hard stop.” He didn’t. In fact, this gracious gentleman gave me 45 minutes of his time and at the end, I blurted out “Can I take you to dinner next time you’re in NYC?” (Of course I was mortified in the awkward silence that followed.) Except then this lion of a man said “Why I’d love that…I’m usually dressed up and have no place to go when I visit.”

Now you might ask why I even dared to call him? Well it’s because of my friend Lisa and this “program” she’s put me on. She dared me to “get 10 no’s.” It’s a long story, but essentially she thought I wasn’t pushing the envelope far enough in my career. So she “double dared me” to go get 10 “No’s.” She didn’t tell me how. She didn’t tell me where, or when. Just 10 No’s. She didn’t even tell me they all had to be about my job search. It stuck with me.

So for the last few months, I’ve dared. To say what I think. Do what I think. All in the name of getting to “No”. What’s really ironic? I haven’t gotten one “no” yet. Turns out I was the one saying “no.” Who knew?

Ciao,

Jules