A few days ago, I got this text:
Erica – Greetings – Dawn here! Always like to check in when I am headed to Aspen to see how you are and if there is a chance to say hello! Would be great to connect. I hope you and your lovely family are well.
Dawn
It’s always nice to hear from old friends, but this text brought back an amazing memory of how we met six years ago that I wanted to share.
In July 2018, I attended the Fortune Brainstorm Tech Conference. My first book, Bring Your Human to Work, was coming out later that year, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn, network, and get the word out.
As I sat in one of the sessions, a woman posted a message in the conference app:
Hi everyone. I would love to meet some other women here at Fortune, so if you are free for dinner tonight.. let’s meet up.
The app started buzzing with different women—myself included—saying, “I’m in!”
As the group grew, I knew we would never be able to get a reservation for so many people, so I volunteered to host in the house I was staying in near the conference. At the end of the day we all met up and walked the two blocks together. I felt like one of those tour guides at Disney holding up a flag for everyone to follow.
So there we were, 15 women who’d never met, sitting around the table getting to know each other and sharing ideas. That night in 2018, we found the sweet spot between tech and connect. We leveraged our tech—the phones and the conference app—for all of its greatness, which helped us find each other, and then put it in its place to connect IRL.
Many of the women have kept in touch, done business together, and continued to feel connected to the community that we created that night.
Talk about an ROI!
Because here’s the thing:
If we had just stayed on our screens, we would’ve missed out on the best part of being human—relationships.
As I teach leaders and managers in my talks and workshops all the time: The default use of technology degrades connection.
Fast forward to today, Dawn and I have seen each other a few times. We’ve found new ways to do some work together, introduced each other to new people, and had lots of laughs, which is great for us as people and for our respective businesses.
Dawn is a great human leader. She understands the importance of finding the sweet spot between tech and connect.
Anyone can be a great human leader. All it takes is intention.
So, as you think ahead about your next few weeks or months, make a plan for your teams and your organization. Decide on exactly when you will connect IRL and then, when you do, put your technology “in its place” — away!
6/25/24
