A Seed Planted

Success is a process of planting, tending and growing. It can be discouraging to plug away at tasks that do not show any immediate results. But, if you are patient and continue to cultivate the seeds you plant, they can produce some amazing fruits.

This topic comes up because I have a great example that just happened today which illustrates the point. I want to share it with you.

Pinned to the wall, just off to the right of my office computer monitor, is a resume. It was a resume I didn’t want and was resentful for getting. I was the one stuck responding to it. It is the resume of a person who I now count among my friends.

Back in 2002 I received an envelope from the vice president of my department. In the envelope was the resume and a note saying, “Call this guy. I got his resume from a board member.”

We weren’t hiring. I didn’t have any projects to hire the man for or even any recommendations of others for him to talk with. But this was a request I was not allowed to dismiss. So, after much delay, I called the man in question and arranged a meeting.

From the beginning I was clear that I had no work to offer, but he came anyway. As things turned out, we got along well and had similar ambitions and interests. By the time our meeting was over we were friends, and I began looking for opportunities to work with my new friend and to help him find work. He had hired a ‘free agent.’

Over the next year or two we kept in touch. I had a project that needed his skills, but had no budget – he volunteered two days of his time to help me. I kept his resume pinned to my wall for easy reference.

This past year I’ve had several occasions to recommend my friend for projects and also to hire him for one or two days worth of work. He’s becoming a regular backup person for me and, by extension, is becoming well known and liked by my colleagues. In addition to having his resume pinned to my wall I have his number on my cellphone and his email address in my address book.

Today, I was approached by a colleague who has employed my friend on a couple of occasions. She wants to hire him for a fulltime staff position.

It may have taken almost four years, but that two page resume did its job. The vice president who forwarded it to me doesn’t work here anymore. I can’t say whether the board member who gave it to him is still around. But, my friend may very well end up working in the same office with me.

That seed he planted has taken root and now seems ready to bear some fruit!