Jonathan, I know him too, how did he treat you?

I was on Facebook interacting with a friend. I noticed his friend list and how he had a friend that we shared seven connections with, but I didn’t recognize the name or photo.

I sought context by looking at his mutual friends list. What I found was that although we shared seven connections, each of the seven was from a different part of my life. And although all were connected to both of us, none of them connected us directly.

None of the connections came from going to school together or working together or playing on the same team. Over the course of our lives, we had each become friends with the same seven people.

This isn’t an isolated occurrence; the world, in general, is more connected than before, and technology increases the likelihood that other people will figure this out.

My favorite example of this is from my first job and well before the internet. I walked into an executive's office. I recognized him not by name but by sight. He was the father of someone with who I had worked. His daughter and I had gone on a few social outings together. I had been to his house and picked his daughter up at his front door. I was thankful at that moment I had been a gentleman to his daughter. Otherwise, my career might have taken a different turn. I know this because I recognized him and he also recognized me.

At that time in my life. Potential future interactions with someone this girl knew weren’t part of my thought process in how I treated her. Treating her well was just the right thing to do. And man, am I glad I had.

What is my point?

The world is more interconnected than you know. The people you know, know people. And they just might figure out they both know you. And when they do. They will talk. For example when you are applying for a job, there is a good chance research will be done about you and not just work stuff. Trust me I get those calls about people I know often.

Please do everything you can to give them good things to talk about.

You can accomplish that by treating all people well. Do this first because it is the right thing to do but secondly because it is wise to leave a good impression. You never know who that person knows and in what future context you might cross paths with someone who knows you or knows about you. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that whatever they know is probably pretty good?

Conclusion

This is an as far as it concerns you situation. No matter how you behave you will encounter people who don’t enjoy the interaction or the outcome. The intent of this article isn’t to suggest you should make it your goal to please everyone.

You should make it your goal to consider the situation you are in, the relationship you have with person you are interacting with, and the wisest possible outcome of the interaction. Then decide what it would look like to behave in the most loving way possible and behave in that way. How the other person responds is their choice.

This link is an approach to help you build more GENUINE relationships. You can do these things to increase your capacity for quality interactions.