[Success Story #1] Get the attention of a president in 5 simple steps, ft. Amit Friedlander

Sometimes an old school letter does the job!

Sep 01, 2020

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Get the attention of a president in 5 simple steps, ft. Amit Friedlander

Welcome to the first post of an entire series in the “Success Story” thread, where I hope to bring practical examples of simple people reaching for the stars ... and landing there! Reminder: learning from success is agnostic to industry, country, race, and (we are in 2020 after all) politics. :)

Firstly, a brief intro on Amit Friedlander:

Grew up in NYC and attended Stuyvesant High School, where he, as class President to 750 students, successfully solicited Bill Clinton and Chuck Schumer to speak at graduation.
Finance and International Studies @ UPenn/Wharton’s Huntsman Program
~6 years as a buy-side equity research analyst, followed by a recent transition to strategy at Verizon [NYSE: VZ].
Fun fact: while working as a buy-side equity analyst, Amit met STORE Capital’s (my current employer) executive team and introduced me. Power of networking (and thinking of others before oneself)!
Take Note! Amit’s wife, Tania Friedlander is a successful strengths coach who has helped many people at Google, Facebook, the Federal Reserve, Genentech, Deloitte, Salesforce and other leading institutions take their career and life to the next level - take note! Feel free to connect with her on LinkedIn and ask her about identifying/unleashing your unique set of strengths.

Amit and I met in Israel where he completely opened up my eyes to an entirely new understanding of networking - one centered around pure giving (see last week’s post).

At some point, we were on a bus together discussing our career goals and I asked Amit, “what do you enjoy most in life?” He pondered for a second, and then proceeded to say:

“There’s nothing I love more than using my network to help others”

This comment never left me, and I attribute a lot of my work (including this blog) back to that bus ride. Note that, just like in last week’s post, the focus is on giving and there’s no mention of taking!

So, how did Amit manage to get Bill Clinton’s attention?

First, some context:

This was late 2001 (shortly after 9/11); Amit was the class President at Stuyvesant High School, a public school in lower Manhattan.

Let’s get to it - what were the 5 steps that allowed Amit and his vice president, Thomas, to secure Bill Clinton as their high school graduation speaker?!

1 - Do your research: Bill Clinton just finished his second term of presidency and moved back to NYC, making the request easier.
2 - Find common ground: Bill Clinton went to public schools for K-12; Amit figured he might be open to giving back to one.
3 - Leverage unique circumstances: Stuyvesant High School was at the epicenter of the 9/11 attack and, Amit figured, graduating seniors were in need of some positive reinforcement.
4 - Have a big vision: Chuck Schumer’s daughter was in Amit’s class and Schumer alone would’ve been a great speaker. However, Amit didn’t stop there.

Now, here comes my favorite part:

5 - Just do it: Amit couldn’t find a relationship or introduction to Bill Clinton, so he used Bill Clinton’s website to send his scheduler a letter via snail mail!

Takeaways:

Sometimes you don’t need an introduction - all you need is a pen, a BOLD vision, and some time to develop a solid strategy.
In the age of technology, many argue that handwritten letters and thank you notes are much more powerful than their digital counterparts!
Last, but not least, note that the common thread across Amit’s story is one of giving - he was reaching out to lift the spirits of his classmates, and “help” is the most powerful word in the English language.

Exercise:

Do you have a list of several people you’d like to get a hold of one day?

If not, try to develop one.
If you already do, how can you use the actionable insights above to land a successful outcome?

Which of the 5 steps or 3 takeaways related to you the most? Please drop a comment below to share your thoughts!

Flourish: Deconstructing Authentic Networking

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