A person you don’t know walks into a meeting. They’re well dressed and walking tall. As they enter the room, they greet each person with a firm handshake, warm smile and eye contact. Once the meeting begins, they are listening attentively, asking targeted and thoughtful questions, acknowledging others in the room for their comments and incorporating appropriate humor into the discussion. At the end of the meeting, he or she, stays around for a few moments to talk with some of the meeting’s attendees. They eventually make it over to you. He or she gives you the same gracious “hello”, smile and handshake. After an informative conversation and exchange of pleasantries, he or she asks if they can have your card to keep in touch and gives you theirs. To that I say, of course you can, you had me at “hello”.

First impressions are lasting. Many times we are sized up before an introduction is every made. We’re not sure from this scenario what exactly this person does for a living or how they might be of service to us in the future or vice versa. However, you probably would not mind a phone call or contact from this person.

I had an opportunity to speak to a group of women at Harvard on leadership, personal brand and mentoring. They were hungry to learn how to hit the ground running in life. It made me think about how much easier life can be when we learn the importance of cultivating great relationships, soliciting feedback and branding ourselves authentically. Identifying our values and understanding our motivations will benefit us greatly in our journey for our defined success. I wish them much success and am encouraged by their openness to be better. For when we know better, we can do better.