Phil Blair, who owns a Manpower Firm in San Diego, had a column in the 2/22/21 San Diego Union Tribune. He told a story that has very relevant Christian-discipleship applications.
Shaving at a gym where he had a morning workout, he chatted with a man standing next to him. During the conversation, Blair asked how he was doing. In reply, “Fine”—as the man walked away. Which wouldn’t have produced a story….but did, for two reasons. One, Blair knew the man had recently been laid off; two, the man knew Blair “owned a large staffing firm.” Both men missed an opportunity: the acquaintance to state his need of employment and Blair to offer his help in gaining it. Being a businessman, Blair suggested that those in the people business—and who isn’t, in some form?—should prepare a 30 second “elevator speech”, the average time one rides. During that time a person with a resource can help a person with a need. The point Blair made, “Never miss an opportunity to network, which is how 80% of jobs are landed.” This writer, by experiencing self-imposed isolation in ministry and journalism, understands the value of networking. The accident the United jet recently had departing Denver, scattering debris, including a huge engine cowling, over a large area, jogged my memory of a student I taught at Ozark Christian College. Where the company building the engine for United will wonder if they had flaws in their design, the student wondered if his company could have been at fault in the crash of the elitist airplane formation—Blue Angles or what I don’t remember. Since he and others ground lenses that such groups wore, could it have manufactured a design flaw that caused the crash? Each pilot followed the leader—and when the group’s leader misjudged his distance from the ground and ploughed into it, the other three, following his lead, followed him in. End Part I
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