The Carnegie Mellon University Center for Entrepreneurial Studies is named after Donald H. Jones, a serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and generous contributor to the university. Before his passing in 2012, Jones was a legend on campus and throughout Pittsburgh as a kindhearted mentor to hundreds or thousands of budding entrepreneurs.

One experience I heard Jones share routinely in teaching moments went something like the following: “I was sitting in the lobby at my customer’s office waiting for an appointment. As the CEO came out of his office to greet me, he was intercepted by his administrative assistant who handed him a small piece of paper. The CEO stopped, read the paper, wadded it into a ball, tossed it in the wastebasket, and said, 'I don’t know who that is. I rarely listen to people I like. Why would I call a person I don’t even know?'" The CEO then greeted Jones and led him into his office.

The lesson is that people listen to people they like. Experts can be confident in their facts or data, but if they do not have a relationship, then they work at a disadvantage. The CEO in the anecdote summarized typical behavior honestly: We rarely listen to people we don’t like.

Don Jones was a master at making friends. He was disarming, gracious, and kind. Despite his tremendous professional success, he always took an interest in others and made time for them. People listened to Don, in part, because they thought of him as their friend. Great SMEs are friends.