Today I attended an event to support an individual who was performing a show and I know he sent out requests to his contacts in hopes that people would arrive. I was actually expecting a lot of people from say the entertainment industry to show up to support him. However, as it turned out It seemed like a lot of people were individuals such as people whom he has done business with in unrelated fields. For example, imagine inviting the retail store owner where you shop a lot and they end up showing up to support their customer.
Support is still support. But again, it was just so fascinating to see how so many people you would expect come out didn’t actually do so. It makes me wonder, do you use these situations to evaluate your personal professional network to see who truly is a supporter of you? I remember one example of a person who was directly responsible for giving certain people the opportunity of a lifetime to showcase themselves while making a successful career only to see that once they made it big they neglected to even acknowledge them. This made the person so upset that she quit the industry apparently.
It’s the reality of a business life as a lot of people you deal with simply want something from you unfortunately. You can say it’s just business as they say. But I think it shows too it’s important to really understand who you are dumping all your support and resources in where if you were expecting them to be like you in terms of being appreciative it could be a big mistake when you truly need that support.