The Power of Patience

Everything comes to he who waits goes the old saying. 

To which my reply usually is - yes, including death. 

You got it. I'm not great with being patient. But patience does have its place. 

Like sightseeing in Cambridge. It's best done slowly, so you can properly take in the 800 years of history. 

(Ok, that was a bit cheesy in terms of getting a pretty picture in, but you know me and my love of photography by now.)

Anyway, business, and getting on in life, don't always make easy alliances with patience. 

But this week I enjoyed experiencing an example of when patience does pay. 

About 18 months ago, soon after I moved to Cambridge, I met a man who needed some help with his messaging.

From expressing the core offering of his business, to a slogan to match, with some soundbites to make it memorable, plus a slice of social media for promotion...

Pretty much everything on the communications front, in fact. 

Anyway, we kept in touch, and to be frank I didn't actually expect to get any work from it. 

Until he rang to say he had a major investment opportunity, and could I help with the presentation, supporting documents, website and video. 

In other words, a complete communications package - my favourite to deliver, as you can really get into the messaging in depth and make a significant contribution to a company.

Why, in a spare moment between our rather frenetic efforts, did he decide to employ me, I asked?

The answer - 

Because I didn't hassle him for work. I was genuinely interested in him and his business, and from our conversations over the months he had come to trust me. 

Whereas the people who'd continually been in touch offering their services... no thank you. 

Looking back on my BBC days, my record - from meeting someone to talk about a story, to actually getting it on air - was just over five years. 

Now that really is a slow burn. But it was one hell of a story when I broke it, and well worth waiting for. 

So if the world of news, possibly the most impatient of professions, has a place for patience, then it can certainly pay in other areas of life, too.