An Example of The Social Excellence Lifestyle

by Matt Mattson

Occasionally we get to interact with people who truly choose to live a lifestyle of Social Excellence.  Earlier this week we got an Email from someone making that lifestyle choice.  Check out the E-mail, and even better, check out the work that he’s doing to change the world (see below the Email).

From: Max Lyons
Sent: Monday, January 02, 2012 12:38 PM
To: Josh@PhiredUp.com; Matt@PhiredUp.com; Woody@PhiredUp.com
Subject: Thank You RE: Keith Ferrazzi- Guatemala

Hi Josh/Matt/Woody,

Not sure if you guys remember me, but I used to be head of recruitment at the University of Washington two years ago. During one of your workshops, you mentioned Keith Ferrazzi’s book “Never Eat Alone.” This lead to me joining his RMA program and forming a relationship with Keith himself. I just returned from Guatemala with Keith and a group of friends where we worked with children in poverty. I told Keith that I discovered his materials through Phired Up, and he had nothing but amazing things to say about you guys.

Also wanted to give you feedback that your Phired Up workshops & materials have helped me in my career at Accenture Management Consulting MUCH MORE than any of the classes I took or organizations I was involved with in college. So much of the success I’ve had is directly attributable to you and your work, so I wanted to say THANK YOU.

Let me know if you guys are ever in NYC.

Warmest,
Max

Max Lyons
Web- ExploringGenerosity.com
Twitter- @maxmlyons

After receiving that message, we responded appreciatively, and we were struck by the multiple layers of Social Excellence being displayed in this message.

1. What a kind message to send.  A simple thank you (years after the fact).  Max didn’t ask us for anything.  He wasn’t trying to manipulate us into anything.  He was just being… generous.

2. Max’s message was about human connection.  Fascinatingly, it was about his (and our) connection to a man known as “The World’s Most Connected Man.”  Keith Ferrazzi, best selling author of Never Eat Alone and Who’s Got Your Back has been an inspiration for us at Phired Up, and we’re lucky to not only have met him, but we also received a glowing review from him about our new book.

3. The coolest layer of Max Lyons’ Socially Excellent Lifestyle, however, is the way he’s changing the world.  Check out this blog he wrote regarding The Transformational Impact of Service.  Because of Max’s handshake with Keith some time ago, he’s changing the world.  This is what Social Excellence is all about — connecting to people and improving society.

4.  But wait, there is one more really cool example of Max’s Social Excellence lifestyle — check out his signature line and click on “Exploring Generosity” to read about the ways he’s gathering people together around his cause.  His website starts off with this statement: “‘How can I become more generous with my life?’ is a question I’ve asked many times. You’ve probably asked yourself this very same thing. It is impossible to make it through a day without seeing people in need. The problem is that most of us, myself included, rarely do anything to help.”

Thanks for the inspiration Max (and Keith)!