23. CHAPTER 3 - CONNECTORS' HALL OF FAME PROFILE

CONNECTORS' HALL OF FAME PROFILE

Bill Clinton

"Know your mission in life.

In 1968, when William Jefferson Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, he met a graduate student named Jeffrey Stamps at a party.

Clinton promptly pulled out a black address book. "What are you doing here at Oxford, Jeff?" he asked. "I’m at Pembroke on a Fulbright," Jeff replied.

Clinton penned "Pembroke" into his book, then asked about Stamps’s undergraduate school and his major. "Bill, why are you writing this down?" asked Stamps. "I’m going into politics and plan to run for governor of Arkansas, and I’m keeping track of everyone I meet," said Clinton.

That story, recounted by Stamps, epitomizes Bill Clinton’s forthright approach to reaching out and including others in his mission.

He knew, even then, that he wanted to run for office, and his sense of purpose emboldened his efforts with both passion and sincerity. In fact, as an undergraduate at Georgetown, the forty-second president made it a nightly habit to record, on index cards, the names and vital information of every person whom he’d met that day. Throughout his career, Clinton’s political aspirations and his ability to reach out to others have gone hand-in-hand.

In 1984, when he was governor of Arkansas, he attended, for the first time, a national networking and thought leadership event called Renaissance Weekend in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Clinton secured an invitation through his friend, Richard Riley, who was then governor of South Carolina. Attending Renaissance Weekend was like a trip to a toy store for a guy like Clinton, who wasted no time meeting others and making friends. Here’s how a Washington Post article from December 1992 describes Clinton in action at the event: Many guests, reflecting on Clinton’s presence, remember images more than words: how he would roam from discussion to discussion and take a spot at the side of the room, leaning casually against the wall; how he would seem to know everyone, not just from their name tags, but remember what they did and what they were interested in.

"He hugs you," said Max Heller, the former mayor of Greenville. "He hugs you not only physically, but with a whole attitude. What Heller is referring to is Clinton’s unique ability to create an almost instantaneous intimacy with whomever he’s talking to.

Clinton doesn’t just recall your personal information; he uses the information as a means to affirm a bond with you. From Clinton, two lessons are clear: First, the more specific you are about where you want to go in life, the easier it becomes to develop a networking strategy to get there.

Second, be sensitive to making a real connection in your interactions with others.

There is almost an expectation among us that whoever becomes rich or powerful can be forgiven for high-handed behavior. Clinton illustrates how charming and popular you can become, and remain, when you treat everyone you meet with sincerity. CHAPTER 4 - Build It Before You Need It