Forget Networking and just connect?
Seeing this title certainly grabbed my attention and made me think about another article I had read recently
Forget Networking. How to Be a Connector
BY ALINA TUGENDExcerpt
We all know people like them, people who seem to know everyone. They’re always able to help — or if they can’t, they know someone who can. You meet them for the first time and in 15 minutes, you’re talking with them like you’re childhood friends. They’re successful, smart and funny, with a likable touch of self-deprecation. And they’re interested in everything.
Who are they? Connectors. Take Maryam Banikarim, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Gannett, publisher of USA Today. She has a perfect job for a connector — she helps link Gannett’s various newspapers and media outlets “and bring the pieces together.”
“I like people and am genuinely curious,” says Banikarim, 42. “I like stories and want to make connections. But I didn’t know the word for it until my husband read Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point and said, ‘I finally have a word for you — a connector.’ “
As Gladwell writes, “sprinkled among every walk of life . . . are a handful of people with a truly extraordinary knack of making friends and acquaintances. They are Connectors.” Gladwell describes them as having an ability to span many different worlds, subcultures and niches.
Traits such as energy, insatiable curiosity and a willingness to take chances seem to be the common thread among connectors — as well as an insistence that connecting is not the same as networking
Full article here
Forget Networking. How to Be a Connector
After reading this I remembered this……
Connections again!
The real way to build a social network
If there is a guru of networking, it is Reid Hoffman. Here he explains how to do it right — and wrong — in an excerpt from his new book with Ben Casnocha, The Start-Up of You.
The best way to engage with new people is not by cold calling or by “networking” with strangers at cocktail parties, but by working with the people you already know. Of the many types of professional relationships, among the most important are your close allies. Most professionals maintain five to 10 active alliances. What makes a relationship an alliance?
First, an ally is someone you consult regularly for advice.
Second, you proactively share and collaborate on opportunities together. You keep your antennae attuned to an ally’s interests, and when it makes sense to pursue something jointly, you do.
Third, you talk up an ally. You promote his or her brand. Finally, when an ally runs into conflict, you defend him and stand up for his reputation, and he does the same for you.
Full article here
The real way to build a social network
Above all whether connecting, networking commit to some action-
Reid’s rules
In the next day: Look at your calendar for the past six months and identify the five people you spend the most time with — are you happy with their influence on you?
In the next week: Introduce two people who do not know each other but ought to. Then think about a challenge you face and ask for an introduction to a connection in your network who could help.
Imagine you got laid off from your job today. Who are the 10 people you’d e-mail for advice? Don’t wait — invest in those relationships now.
In the next month: Identify a weaker tie with whom you’d like to build an alliance. Help him by giving him a small gift — forward an article or job posting.
Create an “interesting people fund” to which you automatically funnel a certain percentage of your paycheck. Use it to pay for coffees and the occasional plane ticket to meet new people and shore up existing relationships.
ALINA TUGEND says
Perhaps one of the most important attributes of a connector is a willingness to help and to reach out even if there is no obvious or immediate payback.
That means thinking long-term. Jen Singer is the founder of the blog Mommasaid.net, author of five books, a Pull-Ups spokeswoman and an undeniable connector. “The biggest mistake people make is they think ‘if I help this person, that will happen immediately.’ We have to stop thinking in linear terms,” she says.
Helping others out doesn’t mean you can’t hold some things back. Singer, 44, uses the word “coopetition” — a combination of competition and cooperation — to describe her philosophy. “I think this generation understands you share, but also protect your own interests — you don’t give a key to everything you have. It’s a line you have to learn to walk.”
What do you think?
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