Today, I had lunch with a client (name withheld) to talk about how partnering with my organization would not only help solve a ton of their company's current issues, but would provide an incredible value proposition to the development of their staff. The man I had lunch with was the consomate professional; intelligent, business savvy, incredibly knowlegable across competencies and very social.
He walked into the restaurant just as I was about to be seated. From the moment we sat down, we talked...and talked and talked. After our appetizer of black bean soup (with cilantro & a dollup of sour cream), we talked more. Somewhere in between the Cobb salad bleu cheese crumbles and his glass of Coca-Cola, we solidified a partnership...I wager a friendship. We spoke further about our families, his company's infrastructure, my son's disabilities, his company's new EDS system implementation, his plans for Christmas, our potential solutions to some of their issues. You see the pattern.
But something odd occurred as he ate his key lime pie and sipped his coffee. For a brief moment, I saw into the complex life of this dad of 3/Corporate Director of LD/husband/on-the-side marriage prep counselor. In the complex waves of life, there are those moments that seem to explain something that you can't put into words. I know it sounds weird, but I felt like after a nice 90 minute lunch that I had known this man for my whole life.
We shook hands a couple times before we both went to our respective cars and left to go back to our respective places of work. The lunch meeting that we had was a success. I was able to reestablish and solidify a relationship with a company that we'll be partnering with for the next year on multiple projects. But more importantly, I feel wiser having met another really good human being trying to do what's right in his 'world.' The world may be falling apart around us, but wow, there still are really great people trying to hold this place together.
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