It was 10:00 pm on April 18th, 1775. Two riders left Boston, Massachusetts, to ride out to Lexington and Concord to alert the militia that the British troops were on their way to capture Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Who were these two midnight riders? My guess is you came up with Paul Revere as one of the riders, but unless you are a history buff you likely don’t remember the other rider: William Dawes. Why do you suppose we remember Paul Revere and don’t remember William Dawes?
The answer is pretty simple. Paul Revere was a well-known silversmith, while William Dawes was an obscure tanner. When Paul knocked on a door and said “The British are coming” the homeowners recognized Paul and remembered the messenger. When William knocked on a door and said “The British are coming,” well, let’s just say they remembered “a guy”. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow later wrote a poem called Paul Revere’s Ride. While inaccurate, it solidified Paul’s role in history and we all forgot about Mr. Dawes. Paul had hundreds of network connections, and as such was related to the story in ways that William, with far fewer connections, could not be. So having lots of network connections get you recognized for your deeds while having few makes you forgettable.
What are you doing to increase your network connections and be more memorable?
