The reason I decided to call people like Juliana “Ray of Connections” is because they, and their connections, are to ideas what the sun is to a plant: Invisible, but take them away and the plant/idea dies. The people who really know how to do this are not just helping the person with the problem, but also - by making the introduction - helping the person who has the potential solution to the problem. The key strategy, according to Juliana, is not just to “to know a lot of people”, but to know what they do, what problems they have, what connections they are looking for - and then be able to make those connections at the right time. Juliana: “When I get to know a person I am really listening to what this person needs.” Open up about yourself and people will open up to you.'Īnd when they do open up, make sure you listen. She told me: 'Vulnerability is the key to connecting to people. I asked Juliana what I and others like me could learn from a super-connector like her. Just an example, in just a couple of months, after living abroad for a long time, she had gotten to know almost all the people on the board of Raia Drogasil, and now she is one of the key people in the transition of transforming Raia Drogasil from a “company that sells drugs” to a “company that helps you live healthily.”

People will express things to her like: “I never opened up with someone as I opened up to you” or “I never connected to someone so fast as I connected with you”, and after talking to her for just one hour I felt in a similar way. Juliana has this skill of very quickly connecting with the right people at the highest level. But that gift, like all gifts, needs to be nourished to flourish. Juliana is one of those people who are gifted with that ability to connect with people. I got to think about “Ray of Connections” when I interviewed Juliana Oizerovici, Head Of Partnerships and Open Innovation at Raia Drogasil. They need help with being presented to the right person, at the right moment, in the right manner.Īnd for that to happen, the ideas often need help from what I now choose to call “Ray of Connections.” One skill that is very often neglected when it comes to innovation is the ability to connect with other people. But innovation comes in many shapes and forms. They picture an inventor (often a man) alone in a laboratory inventing the next big thing. For many, the symbol of creativity is “the lone genius”.

Creative suite