INSPIRATION
Six years ago Brown told me I had to take a lunch.
A digital transformation was underway, the Salesforce team was already inside the building, and I was the new guy on the inside who needed to meet them. The invite came down the chain. I went.
I showed up as myself. Bleached locs. Bow tie. Manicured nails, and a lot of personality per usual. I didn't dim anything down for the room.
The man across the table noticed.
His name was Earl Murphy. He told me, years later, that's when he decided I was somebody he wanted to know. Not somebody he had to serve as a customer. Somebody he wanted to learn from. Attraction over promotion, in his words.
We talked shop. We talked work. Mostly it was a people connection. By the time we walked out of that lunch, something had shifted, even if I couldn't name it yet.
That one lunch became the door I walked through to leave higher ed for Salesforce. To write a book. To start the company you're reading this newsletter from.
One lunch.
Here's the thing nobody tells you about a career.
The moves that change everything almost never look like they're going to. They look like a calendar invite somebody else made for you. They look like a coffee with someone a friend insists you meet. They look like a 30-minute window you could easily fill with email.
The room you walk into doesn't owe you a transformation. But sometimes there's somebody at the table about to put you on.
The only thing they need from you is that you show up as yourself.
COLLABORATION
Adam Grant did the math on it in Give and Take.
Grant's research splits people into three camps. Takers extract. Matchers keep score. Givers pour in without keeping a ledger. And here's the part nobody expects: across long timeframes, givers don't get burned. They get pulled into more rooms, more referrals, more lucky collisions. The lunch with Earl was that math.
If the frame holds for you, go to the source → [Adam Grant, Give and Take]
▶ The TEF Show — EP02 with Earl Murphy drops tomorrow at 6 AM ET. Earl is a textbook giver. You're about to meet him. [Watch the trailer →]
EXECUTION
Your 1% this week. One move, before Wednesday.
Say yes to ONE meeting you would normally pass on. Or text the person whose first meeting changed your trajectory and tell them what they did for you.
That's it. No system. No app. Just the yes.
PASS IT ON
Forward this to someone whose first meeting with you changed something. Let them know.
THE EXTRA
I just finished a show this month called From.
The whole premise nudges at one question: what would you do if you ended up in a parallel world you couldn't leave? Who would you become? Who would you protect?
If you've seen it, hit reply. No spoilers, just tell me which season wrecked you most.
— DéRecco
The Invisible Interview · The Invisible Score · The TEF Show
