Micheal talks about his first job and how someone helped him selflessly:
Chuck was helpful. Whenever I spun around and asked a question, Chuck would stop whatever he was doing to help. Complete, fully attentive help. Answer-the-question completely help. He was intensely curious, kind, and full of enthusiasm.
Chuck wanted to help.
He apparently manifested an intro opportunity with Cambridge without even knowing someone there.
In this New Year, I am asking you to find one human; it’s a non-obvious human. It’s not a direct report or a human where you are paid to invest. Find this non-obvious human and invest in them. Unreasonably, consistently, without expectations. While achieving their dream is a goal, your goal is to help without hesitation.
While I never did this (but now am realizing I really want to), I've helped a bunch of people over my (still pretty short) career. No big acts like getting someone an intro at Cambridge. Rather sharing a little knowledge here when someone seemed stuck or testing a prototype there. And every time, without exception, it felt great.