Any time, except 10 a.m.
Sure enough ... power move.
I wrote a newsletter yesterday that started with someone asking me about my push-up technique. And, as you’ll see in a moment, I’ve written one for today about an experience I had while going for a four-mile run.
This was not intentional. Well, not consciously intentional, although I do subscribe to the notion that there are no coincidences.
I can be flexible!
Sometimes, you’re willing to do almost anything for a meeting.
More years ago than I would like to admit, when I was writing my book about West Point and the Iraq War, I had a breakfast set with a colonel who was kind of a mucky-muck at the academy.
I drove to the academy the night before, checked into a cheap hotel, unpacked, ordered a sandwich—and then, I got a call.
Breakfast was off, an aide told me around midnight. But, if I wanted to meet the general at 6:30 a.m. and accompany him on his daily four-mile run, he'd be happy to have me.
Power move, no doubt. But what could I do?
I popped two Advil, drank a ton of water, and ran four miles with him—through the woods and up a flippin’ mountain.
“That route has bested many a man,” the colonel told me afterward, while gripping my hand in one of the four or five firmest handshakes I’ve ever encountered.
(Fun fact: the colonel barely appears in the book after all that … although he did give me some good leads on other people to interview.)
Another time, I wanted to interview a famous celebrity.
I told her publicist that I could talk anytime at all during a two-day period—except for 10 a.m. on the second day.
You can guess what happened, right? She sent me confirmation for that exact time: 10 a.m. on the second day.
Still, I reshuffled my schedule. The interview itself was the goal.
These two little anecdotes came to mind not long ago when I was talking with a CEO about cold calls.
Brian Bagdasarian runs a real estate investment company called Simply, and his team spends a lot of time trying to get people who weren’t planning to sell their homes to think about it. (Hate the game, not the player, people.)
He told me about an experiment he did, to see if changing the way he tried to set up meetings would yield different results.
For a while, as a test, he split his inquiries, 50/50.
Half of his cold call emails said basically: “I can be flexible and talk at whatever time will work for you. What would you like?”
For the other half, he sent links to a calendar scheduling service with a small number of available times: “No need to go back and forth. Just choose a time here that works for you.”
As it turned out, 40% of the “I can be flexible” emails resulted in a meeting, after an average of four back-and-forth emails to confirm the time.
But, 80% of the “scheduling link” emails resulted in an immediate booking.
In other words, a better-than two-to-one advantage. But, I think we can imagine a different dynamic might require a different approach.
For example, suppose you’re a student looking for a mentor, or a prospective employee trying to land an interview. You ask for a meeting with one of these three constructions:
Option #1: "I can be flexible and would be happy to talk anytime."
Option #2: "Please choose a time from the calendar link that works for you."
Option #3: "I'm free to talk at 9:30 a.m., or would 2 p.m. be better?"
Option #1 seems like it lacks urgency.
As for Option #2, I can’t get past the idea of asking someone for a favor, and then politely ordering them to squeeze themselves into your schedule.
Finally, Option #3 also seems a bit entitled and sales-y, since it skips the part where you actually agree to meet.
Someone once told me: People love choices, but they hate decisions. And so, the general rule I’ve come up, after writing nonfiction for a living for two decades, which in turn means getting a lot of people to speak with me, is this:
Be eager, but not needy or desperate; accommodating, but not to the point of inaction.
Does it work? Well, often enough.
And when it doesn’t, I do whatever’s the equivalent of popping two Advil and drinking a ton of water.
Sometimes, you just have to be flexible.
7 other things worth knowing
Russian forces made a sudden thrust in eastern Ukraine in recent days, as Russian leader Vladimir Putin seeks a battlefield advantage ahead of talks with President Trump in Alaska on Friday. The Kremlin claims Donetsk as part of Russia and will push for U.S. recognition of Russian control there and in other areas during the summit. Holding and reinforcing the small spit of land will be difficult for Russian forces, as troops there will face constant attacks on their exposed flanks. (WSJ)
The Ultimate Fighting Championship will stage a historic fight at the White House on July 4, 2026, marking America's 250th birthday, UFC CEO Dana White confirmed Tuesday. White said he spoke with President Trump Monday night about the event, and source familiar with the planning confirmed that the White House expected the event to happen. (CBS News)
Trump’s nominee to run the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Monday that the agency should suspend monthly jobs reports, a change that could leave businesses and policymakers without the data they’ve used for decades to gauge the state of the labor market and broader economy. If confirmed by the Senate, Antoni would replace former BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer, whom Trump fired earlier this month after the release of a bleak labor market report. (The Washington Post)
In the hours after Trump’s announcement that he would take the unprecedented step of federalizing the D.C. police and send in the National Guard, locals reacted with a mix of outrage, incredulity and, among a smaller few, tepid support. Most said they generally feel safe — even as some acknowledged crime as an issue or described past brushes with it. Describing the takeover underway in the capital, they used words like “absurd,” “outrageous” and “wake-up call.” (The Washington Post)
The White House is conducting an expansive review of the Smithsonian's museum exhibitions, materials and operations ahead of America’s 250th anniversary to ensure they align with President Donald Trump's view of history. The order calls for removing "improper ideology" from the Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo. (NBC News)
A 60-year-old man who wanted to eliminate salt from his diet and asked ChatGPT for a replacement wound up in the hospital after accidentally poisoning himself. The AI platform recommended sodium bromide, a chemical often used in pesticides, and the man used it as a substitute for three months. (News Nation)
A meteorite that smashed through the roof of a Georgia home in July may have formed before Earth itself, according to a scientist from the University of Georgia. The ancient asteroid shard weathered the intense friction of atmospheric entry to punch a hole through the roof of a house in the city of McDonough, Georgia, shattering the floor a mere 14 feet from an unsuspecting resident. (Space.com)
Thanks for reading. Photo by Gabe Pierce on Unsplash. I wrote about some of this before at Inc.com. See you in the comments.
You run. I meet you at 0700 with an iced coffee.
Tell him coincidently you too happen to run the same path but much earlier at 6:00, buuuut you’ll meet him at 6:30 when “you are done”.
Meanwhile arrive little earlier, jog in place and drench yourself in a bottle of water for the full out-of-breath, sweating effects prior to the meet up. ;)