One of my favorite axioms from my years in the FBI is: Recruit everybody, every day. It includes your colleagues, secretary, greengrocer, paperboy, even your supervisor, whether you’ve just met them or have known them all your life. It’s especially applicable in the FBI when working on foreign counterintelligence cases. Sometimes, it’s doing unasked-for favors, or just being thoughtful with a compliment.
Many don’t take these little steps, and some never will. But if you want to accomplish something in the field of human endeavor where the actions of others come into play, and if you don’t “recruit everybody, every day,” your chances of success are diminished. You don’t know who might help you on the next go-around, but you shouldn’t expect them to.
