I was at a networking event the other day. A professional acquaintance standing in a group beckoned me over. "Hello" he said, before turning to the others and adding," Do you know Michael? A lot of people in the industry don't like him."
I was gobsmacked - not by what he'd said but by the open admission of what I'd long suspected. As my father said "It's not what you know! It's who you know." Now, if the people you know don't like you - your *!!*ed. It's just a shame it took me so long to find out. When I was managing a £4.5 million budget a lot of people appeared to like me.
Loosing your job is bad enough - loosing 25 years of professional connections is quite another thing. Moral of the story? Your peers are the enemy.
Comments (1)
I am not sure I agree with your moral or your acquaintance. Perhaps I am in a minority. I do know that I like you and I strongly suspect I am not in a minority. More likely, your acquaintance is making a clumsy attempt to elevate his or her own status by demonstrating that they speak for others in the industry and by putting you down. If only more people had as much flair as our MCP.
Posted by Jim Moffat | October 26, 2009 6:47 AM
Posted on October 26, 2009 06:47