Appreciation Post – Richard Dolman

Unfortunately, saying thank you seems to be an afterthought more and more. So at least once a month, I will take a few minutes to publicly appreciate someone that has had an impact on me.

This round:  Richard Dolman

I met Richard many many years ago when we were both speakers at a conference.  And we have continued to cross paths every year since.  So there are plenty of things I could appreciate Richard for but this post is going to focus on a specific engagement.

Last year, Richard met me for lunch.  He expressed an interest in increasing collaborations, etc.  We chatted.  We laughed.  A seed was planted.

Fast forward to the end of the year, when a client was asking for a large attendee size training.  I immediately thought of Richard to assist me.  One for this knowledge, two for his delivery, three for his interest and effort in wanting to work with me.  The stars had aligned and now there was an engagement to make it happen.   So here’s just a few things that stood out:

• His willingness to do absolutely anything – need water, I’ll do those charts, to magically making things appear.  Not only was it helpful but it was proactively helpful.  I didn’t even know I needed that and yet there it was.  It really allowed me to just focus on the content and attendees.
• His dependability – I’ll be honest, if I was doing this role I might be tempted to do some side work while waiting, etc.  Nope, fully present, contributing and watching to see what can be gathered/done/shared.
• His supportive nature – he gave helpful feedback, information about observations and just general kudos/appreciation.

Sometimes the best energy boost a person can have is finding a collaborative partner that helps lift you up.  Thank you Richard for agreeing to this engagement and mostly for being that person.

Picture from LinkedIn.