In economics, the multiplier effect broadly refers to an economic factor that, when increased or changed, causes increases or changes in many other related economic variables.
Allow me to translate that into personal relationships. In Yoruba (my native language), there’s a saying - eniyan laaso mi; this means People are my covering. This week, I learned a big lesson on the multiplier effect our relationships could have on our success (and of course failure too).
I run a social enterprise focused on helping African women accelerate their careers in STEM. We recently secured a training partnership project with a major recruiting firm in Nigeria. To kickstart the project, we needed to onboard a certain number of interested participants. But for some reason, we were struggling to fill the slots internally. I felt dampened and worried that we weren’t going to hit our kickoff number, so I decided to put out a post on social media.
When I did, lots of people reached out to congratulate me, but I wasn’t even in a congratulatory mode. While responding to one of the congratulatory messages, it hit me that I could ask them to also share with their networks. So I braced up, thanked everyone who reached out and then asked them to help with spreading the word.
2 days later, the numbers had gone up by over 1000% (yes 1000%). The last I checked, we’re almost 1500% from the initial numbers. I don’t even know half of the people that signed up for the training or where they came from. But I’m so glad to be a conduit and get to be part of their success story through this training.
The real success though is that I couldn’t have done this alone, so I’m grateful to everyone who shared. I am utterly grateful to my friends and support system for their help on this one.
I have learned a big lesson on relationships and working collectively. Most importantly, I’m reminded to also be a sharer and supporter. Life is better done with people.
This week’s lesson: I am because you are.