Strategic Connection & Collaboration
Sometimes the opportunity is already there. The right people simply haven’t found one another yet.
I see connections between people, ideas, organizations, and opportunities, and I bring them together when there is a meaningful reason to do so.
Sometimes that begins with an introduction. Sometimes it becomes a partnership, a collaboration, a new opportunity, or an idea neither person would have arrived at alone.
What I Mean by Strategic Connection
For me, strategic connection begins with paying attention.
I listen for what someone is building, what they need, where they are trying to go, and what may be getting in the way. At the same time, I am often remembering another person, organization, resource, or idea that could matter.
The value is not simply knowing people. It is recognizing where there is genuine alignment, and knowing when an introduction is worth making.
Not every connection needs to become something. But when the fit is there, the right introduction can open a conversation, strengthen an idea, create an opportunity, or become the beginning of a collaboration no one had planned.
What Can Begin With a Connection
A meaningful connection does not come with a predetermined outcome.
It may begin with two people who should know one another. An organization looking for the right partner. An idea that needs a different perspective. A conversation that reveals an opportunity no one was actively looking for.
Some connections become collaborations. Others lead to introductions, partnerships, projects, resources, or opportunities that continue developing long after the first conversation.
I am less interested in creating more connections than I am in creating the right ones.
That distinction matters to me. The goal is not activity for the sake of activity. It is recognizing when bringing the right people or ideas together could genuinely move something forward.
When Collaboration Makes Sense
I am most interested in collaboration when there is a clear reason for us to be in the same conversation.
That might mean bringing perspective to an idea that is still taking shape, helping identify the people or relationships that could move something forward, exploring a partnership, or recognizing an opportunity that has not yet been fully considered.
I do not come into every conversation knowing what the outcome should be. Often, the first step is simply understanding what you are trying to build, where you want to go, and what might be missing.
The best collaborations are not created by forcing a fit. They begin when there is something genuinely worth building together.
Where Connection
Has Led
Some connections begin with a conversation. What follows can be difficult to predict. These are a few of the relationships that became something more.
Over the years, I have watched introductions become opportunities, conversations become collaborations, and professional relationships grow into work that continued well beyond the reason we first sat down together
An Introduction That Became Award-Winning Work
My relationship with Matt Perkins began long before either of us knew where the work might lead. Over time, I came to know not only the quality of Matt’s work through Perkins Media Group, but the way he sees and tells a story.
When an opportunity emerged with Smith Metal Products, I saw a connection worth making. That relationship grew into a creative collaboration, with Matt and Logan Perkins helping bring the company’s story to life through video.
The work went on to receive a Silver Telly Award.
That is what I find so compelling about connection. You cannot always see the outcome from the beginning. Sometimes you simply recognize that the right people belong in the same conversation, and something remarkable grows from there.
A Connection That Changed My Direction
I met Marian Cook before Archstone Workspace existed. We stayed connected, and eventually that relationship led me to the business incubator she created at Archstone.
That experience changed far more than where I worked. Marian encouraged me to be brave enough to reconsider the direction I thought I was headed. In that environment, I completed my book, created The Becoming Program, and connected with Tracy Fallon, who would become an important part of Becoming.
I could never have seen any of that coming when Marian and I first met. But I can trace a meaningful part of the life I have now back to that connection.
What Might Be Possible?
Sometimes the beginning is simply a conversation.
If you are building something, considering a collaboration, looking for the right connection, or wondering whether there might be an opportunity worth exploring together, I am always interested in hearing what you are thinking.
We don't have to know where the conversation will lead before we begin it.
Let’s begin with a conversation.