Earning respect!

As I wrote my previous post, it just flashed to me that I met another immensely influential person on the very same day!! And so I decided, I should write about him.

I was so involved in talking to people and stuffing my face with cookies and delicious apple pie, that I barely moved from my seat at the fika table. In the middle of this random conversation with people around me (I was acting socially incapable), fairly old, quite plump and adorably cute (I know I really cant describe a person in this way: since he is much more older and is a person of high stature approached me :P). He has sparkling, powerful and approachable eyes. He walked up-to me along the room - it had an old rusty decoration but was impressively well maintained. Across the big rose wood table, he called me. Inside my head it spun- who would want to talk to me? Did I screw-up something? Where is the sound coming from? I reacted rather quick wondering why someone like him wanted to talk to me. In my wonder stuck situation, i got up from my seat and pushed around several people (as I was sitting in the center of this magnificent table) before I made it to him. 

It was a very short conversation lasted less than 2 minutes. He said exactly 2 sentences to me : "Good speech down there! I wanted to talk to you, since I am Chairman of the Board, I would like to be in touch with you" (or this is how I remember it). And we exchanged emails and I sent him a thank you email. EOC(end of conversation).

The next day I see an email sitting in my inbox from him. xxx it read:

Hi, as I said I am most interested in feedback on the master program.

Do not hesitate to contact me if you believe I can help.

Btw: I am using linkedin for keeping order of my connections.

Feel free to send me an invite to LinkedIn

I could not find you. I guess your name is not that uncommon.

Regards

Natural feeling, I expected no email reply from him at all. It thrilled me. It also left me thinking. And even today I wonder and feel amazed. It was a 2 mins conversation. He inspired me. No matter how far up we reach, one must never forget the person within you. He earned the respect. His actions spoke stronger than his words. Some things may feel small life. You never know what you are leaving behind- like Bjorn did to me. It may have been his job, but it takes great maturity in life to walk up-to to a small student like me in a filled room (I am not familiar with it from where I come from). 

Swedishness justified!!