Networkers ask, "How can this person help me?"
TOP Performers ask, "How can I help this person?"
It is one thing to be networked, and another thing to be a networker. I hate those events where people are shoving their business cards at me. Assessing me in an instant as to what I can do for them – expecting me to lead them to their next business deal. Once weighed, measured, and found I’m lacking (little do they know), I see their eyes speed reading the room through my now invisible head for the next most likely networking
opportunity. It is all about them and their agenda.
Don’t get me wrong. Most people that know me will tell you I’m one of the best at introducing people who can help one another. I’ve always had a knack for connecting. But that isn’t networking. That is working one’s network to the benefit of others.
If friends were diamonds, networkers walk away empty-handed. Friend-makers come away from those events with one, maybe two gems that can last a lifetime.
A far too occasional, but dear friend is Glenna Salsbury. Glenna is a past president of the National Speakers Association, a contributor to the original Chicken Soup for the Soul, and she has it right. Glenna says, "I love to share friends." You see we "network" for our friends and expect nothing in return. Others have an agenda. They network for themselves and want transactions, not relationships.