I’ve written to you before that it’s never too late to let someone know you appreciate something they said or did. This week, a touching experience brought that point home to me.
I received a LinkedIn message from a woman I haven’t heard from in years. She wrote to tell me she had spoken to the “entire lady workforce” in the company where she is a director, in Denmark where she lives. It was “a true privilege sharing how my first 100 quarters in IT had formed me as a person,” she wrote. “That’s where YOU come into the picture.”
We met 13 years ago in London. She traveled from Denmark to participate in a leadership program I facilitated for women who were viewed as high potentials for growth in leadership at a global U.S. company. She wrote last week that she told the audience what I told her during that program. “You can do anything you want, just not all at the same time.” Those words resonated with her then and, she wrote, “are now paid forward to a large group of women in Denmark.” It resonated with them, too.
I have always remembered her because we clicked. She was engaged as a participant, and we had dinner afterwards. That’s when I learned more about her and her vision for what she wanted to achieve. I was impressed and checked in with her via LinkedIn once or twice a year for a number of years.
As I wrapped up that program, I talked about how important it is to believe in yourself, because that mindset would help them achieve what they wanted. I handed each of the participants a small card with BELIEVE IN YOU printed in large black letters on a white background. Days later, she emailed saying how much she enjoyed what the program and our conversation had pushed her to think about. And she wanted me to know she had displayed the BELIEVE IN YOU card on the wall above her key hooks near her front door so that she and her kids would see it at the beginning and end of each day. She still has it! In her message last week, she included a lovely photo of herself holding that card, ending her message with, “Thank You – for everything you’ve done to make such an impact on me.”
I was deeply touched. She had been thinking about me, and I would not have known it if she hadn’t written to tell me. I’ve thought about her message numerous times since it arrived. After thanking her, I’m thinking about who I will write to and pay it forward.
Who could you write to this week? Who would be pleasantly surprised to hear from you? Just let them know you’re thinking about them and why. It doesn’t matter how recent or long ago they said or did something that has stuck with you. It’s the thought that counts. It will make their day. It sure made mine.
