I think everyone has made a list of people they would most like to have lunch with. Recently, I had the opportunity to do so with someone who would be on my To 10 list.
Out of respect to this person’s privacy and not to name drop, I will keep their identity a secret but we had a wonderful conversation. Many times when you meet someone well-known or has a large platform, they do not live up to the image. This person was even better one-on-one than their public persona.
As I reflect on our time together, I want to document what I learned and provide you 10 Things To Do When You Have Lunch With Someone A Well-Known Person:
- Drop Everything You Are Doing – Certain opportunities do not come around often so you must take advantage of them when they do. I received an email from this person asking if we could lunch on a particular day. My wife asked, “What do think he wants to talk about?” I responded, “I don’t know but when he asks to go to lunch the answer is ‘Yes!'”
- Show Up Early – A person’s most valuable asset is time. Time is irreplaceable. Once it is used it is gone forever. So use it wisely. Almost, tardiness is a sign of disrespect. It communicates to the other person your time is more valuable than their’s.
- Give Them A Gift – Everyone wants something from apex leaders. Few people give them anything. As he arrived, I gave him two copies of my book Timeless: 10 Enduring Practices Of Apex Leaders. One was a signed copy and the other was for him to give to someone else he is investing in.
- Show Up Prepared With Good Questions – John Maxwell teaches to always show up good questions whenever you meet with great leaders. This shows preparation, intentionality, and communicates how much you value the other person’s time and wisdom. As we began to talk, I said, “You asked for the lunch so I don’t want to hijack our time together but I showed up with 10 good questions like we’ve been taught.”
- Make The First Question How Can I Serve You? – Once again, everyone wants something from great leaders. Few want to unconditionally serve them.
- Focus On Relationships More Than Results – As I mentioned my 10 questions, he smiled and said, “We’ve talked about getting together for awhile so I just wanted to hang out and hear your story.” What I learned from this part of our conversation is the greatest leaders have high capacity and are experts at their craft, highly skilled, and incredibly intelligent. However, the thing they value the most are relationships. We are all looking for more friends and understand the most appreciable asset in the world is people.
- Have Fun – Laugh a little. Don’t be a burden. Try to lighten someone else’s load. Life is tough. A little fun and levity is good for everyone.
- Respect Their Time – I said, “I could talk to you all day but I know you’re very busy. Let me know when you have to go.” This speaks to once again, valuing their time but also demonstrating some level of emotional intelligence.
- Send A Thank You Note Or Email – Following up is often the cherry on the sundae to a great time together. Thank them for their time and for how much you appreciated their time. In a world of entitlement, few people in the world express appreciation anymore. A Thank You note or email sets you apart.
- Add Value To Them – During our time together we discussed family, leadership trends, writing books, and blogging. Hopefully, this person thought the time he invested was well spent.
I hope you also get to have lunch with someone you have great admiration for. If so, this is a good list to follow.
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