There are many ways to help people to succeed. One approach is to enable people to get professional win-wins by being a creative matchmaker.
Looking at my own work, during the past fifty years I have met many superb people. One of the most rewarding aspects has been giving some of these people the chance to meet. Many have then gone on to work together and succeed.
There are certain elements to creative matchmaking. These go beyond saying to people:
“I think you ought to meet.”
Imagine that you want to give people the opportunity to work together and succeed. Let’s explore some of the potential steps towards making it happen.
You can create a portfolio
of people with specific skills
One approach is to start by thinking about the various people in your network. It is then to ask yourself the following questions.
Which of these people would I recommend? What are each person’s strengths? What are the specific skills or services they offer?
Who are the kinds of people with whom they work best? How can they use their skills to help people to achieve success?
If you wish, draw a map of the people you would recommend and the specific skills they offer. You can move on to the next stage.
You can create a portfolio of
people who have specific needs
If appropriate, think of the people in your network who may have specific needs. It is important, of course, to ensure they really do want these things.
A person may have said they are looking for help in a particular area. Alternatively, you may think that, if explored in an appropriate way, they may be interested in getting specific kinds of help.
Again, it is important they would like help, rather than you foisting it upon them. If you wish, draw a map of these people who may have specific needs.
You can, when appropriate, connect
people in a way that can get win-wins
Creative matchmakers are often generous people. They want to give people opportunities and help them succeed.
Sometimes this generosity stretches to actually giving work to others rather than doing it themselves. Such people want the best for their colleagues and customers, however, and help them to get win-wins.
You will have your own approach to creative matchmaking. One approach is to ask the following questions.
Who in my network has a specific need? What are the challenges they face? What are the results they want to achieve? What is their picture of success?
Who do I know who may be able to help this person to succeed? What are their specific skills? How can they use these skills to help the person to succeed?
How could I connect these people in a way that is most likely to succeed? How can I enable them to get potential win-wins?
Different people take this step in different ways. One approach I have used has been after having a conversation with a person in which they expressed having a certain need.
Reflecting on the conversation, I consider if there may be a possible win-win. If so, I may then write an email to a person that goes along something like the following lines.
Dear …
It was good to catch up with you the other day. During the conversation you mentioned that you were interested in pursuing ideas about …
You will no doubt have lots of ideas in this area. If you are interested, however, I know a person who has specific skills in this area.
Their name is … They have a track record of helping people to achieve their goals in the kinds of area you were mentioning.
If you are ever interested, I could connect you. I am sure the person would be happy to have an informal chat to share ideas.
It would then be up to you to see if you wanted to take it any further.
Let me know what you think.
There are many times when the person gets back and says they would be interested in having an informal chat. I then write to the person who has the specific skill. This goes something along the following lines.
Dear …
The other day I was talking with … During the conversation they mentioned that they were interested in pursuing ideas about …
I hope it was okay, but I mentioned to them that you had specific expertise in this area.
They have since got back to me and said they would be interested in having an informal chat with you.
This would just be an introductory discussion – nothing formal or guaranteed – but they would like to know more about the specific skills you offer.
If you are interested, then I could tell you more about:
a) the person; b) the challenges they face and the results they want to achieve; c) the specific ways you may be able to help them to achieve their goals.
Let me know if this is something you may be interested in.
When appropriate, the next step is for me to write an email connecting the people. It then up to them how they want to take things further.
Different matchmakers have different ways of doing such ground work. My own approach has been to let people know as much as possible about:
a) the other person or parties involved; b) the goals to achieve; c) the guidelines for potentially working well together.
Looking ahead, can you think of a situation where you may want to folloe some elements of this approach? How can you do this in your own way? How can you offer people the opportunity of getting a win-win?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
Leave a Reply