One day last week, someone asked me if we’d heard of an author with a new management book out. I hadn’t, so I downloaded the book to read on my Kindle and replied, I’ll let you know when I’ve read it. “Wow, you rock” came the reply. To be honest, I was a bit shocked, since I didn’t think I’d done anything special. (I’ve started it, by the way….).

Later Mark and I had a conversation about a phone call he’d had that day. One of our previous attendees had had a problem and emailed Mark. It wasn’t the kind of thing that could easily be discussed by email, so we set up a 15 minute phone call. The attendee was astounded that Mark would take the time to talk to him and promised to follow up.

Maybe, we thought, only 10% of executives would give someone who asked a genuine question the time of a reply. But we offer Mark’s email address at every conference, and you know, only a tiny number of people take him up on the offer. Even less follow up – and we love the people that do. We talk about them as our friends. We look forward to going to the towns where they are. There’s some people who send me an email every now and again, and I think of them as my friends – even though our friendship started as them asking me a question they thought I could help with.

If you have a question and you think someone you admire could help, ask. I’m sure you’ll be surprised at the response. And don’t forget to follow up. If someone asks you a question, try to help. And, if you want to be friends with someone, reach out. It won’t happen if you don’t.