When Tip O’Neill, legendary Speaker of the House for 35 years, first ran for office, he was defeated by 150 votes.

Speaking with his landlady (or neighbor, depending which version of the story you’ve heard) afterward, he asked, “Did you vote for me?”

“No,” she replied.

O’Neill was shocked and disappointed. “Why not?” he inquired.

“Because you never asked,” said the landlady.

O’Neill was never defeated again and is famously known for quipping, “All politics is local.”

Have you asked your best marketing leads for their business? Have you told a prospective client you’d love to work with them?

Making Mediation Your Day Job by Tammy Lenski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at MediatorTech.com.