I try to be one of these "Superconnectors" in my personal and church life as well as professionally. In general, I like to meet new people and help in anyway possible. That goes for anyone on this board, I have received so much help on here and I hope I have provided some value to others in terms of advice, connecting, friendship, or other insight. I appreciate the good Karma plus the satisfaction of seeing nice people (often members of the church) succeed. Plus you never know if you'll connect or work with the same people you helped one day.

I really don't expect anything in return except a "thank you." Although, if I'm invested in you in terms of time and effort, I am hence "cheering for you" and I would love to be updated on your progress. I truly appreciate those of you who have asked for advice on travel and food in Brazil or Hawaii or Japan and then sent me pics to let me know you had a great time.

A year ago a brother I didn't know in my ward reached out for professional advice. He was looking to transition from a career in sports management to tech sales. I spent two long phone calls with him walking him through the pros and cons, scoured my network, helped him get an interview, and then even did an additional mock interview with him to make sure he was prepped. After all of my effort he never said thank you or even kept me updated, I saw him at church and found out he had landed a job. Then a month ago I heard indirectly he had lost that same job, and then out of the blue he texted me this week asking if I had any openings at my company. I told him the truth which is that I don't, but I also wasn't as motivated to go the extra mile and search my network because of my prior experience. Remember the parables of the 10 lepers, saying "thank you" cost nothing and takes almost no time.

On the other hand, when I was applying MBA schools, I reached out to a friend of a friend who was a freshman at Northwestern. Not only did he invite me to attend class and give me insight into the Ward, he even offered to read my essays and provide feedback which is such a pain (I got wait-listed but not accepted, it was a reach anyway). This guy was so kind I thanked him and even sent him some Belgian chocolates even though I was a poor newly married guy. We're still in touch 12 years later.

I ended up at a different MBA school, upon accepting I reached out to a brother who spent 45 minutes on the phone with me explaining housing and everything else I needed to know. Funny story he was assigned as my home teacher when I moved there, and was a fantastic home teacher. My wife made him some Pao de Queijo and a big pot of Brazilian beans and Farofa to thank him for his help since he was a missionary there. I'm constantly surprised at how nice folks are especially members of the church.

Anyway I hope this is helpful to some of you.