You have connected with someone at a networking event and followed up with a telephone call to set up a coffee meeting. You receive no response, but at your next encounter, you receive an apology for the lack of response and agree to once again pursue a meeting.
However, this time your inquiry is met with the following reply: "My calendar is not up to date, so I'm still in the dark about my week and am waiting to hear back from two people about appointments. Thanks for writing. I'll talk to you soon." Then, just a few days later, you receive an email asking if you can meet the following morning. Hmmmm.
The business colleague who wrote me about this experience understands the importance of putting income producing meetings over networking ones, but was wondering if she was out of line to feel irritated by the lack of consideration towards her time.
In a word, no. If she doesn't respect and value her own time, why should anyone else?
Yes, things happen, and not receiving a response to an email or a telephone call is a possibility; the other party did well to apologize. However, rather than saying that she was waiting for two other appointments to confirm/cancel/materialize or float off into the sunset, the other woman might have looked a week ahead and simply suggested an open date. The last minute "how about tomorrow morning," together with the not-up-to-date calendar excuse/reasoning, raises a red flag about the level of consideration and organization she has to offer.
Sometimes it's really all right to let go and move on.
|
|
Remember...
Make a reasonable effort to follow-through and connect with another person, but when you find yourself making repeated telephone calls or sending several emails just to get the basic arrangements down, it's ok to ask yourself if the person is really worth your time and energy.
Having standards of acceptable behavior is something to be proud of!
|
