WOW #013: In Defense of Networking: Relational > Transactional

Quote of the Week:
"Instead of better glasses, your network gives you better eyes."
- Ronald Burt

It's been awhile since I graduated from B-School. Thankfully, great memories and valuable friendships remain. 

Last Friday, a former classmate and I hopped on I-85 and embarked on a 6-hour cannonball run to Raleigh, NC where we were joined by 4 others from our class.  

Some 72 hours later as I write - a mosaic of side-splitting laughter, insights, shared lessons, and honest feedback take shape - revealing patterns of the past and present. Today, we have the opportunity to value and appreciate the mosaics that were built before us, but not just as artful displays of walls, floors, and tiles.

When we’re able to take them in from a glance we understand more about those who came before us. We also start to consider more about ourselves in the present, how we:

• Live our lives and maintain relationships.
• Contemplate the changing world around us.
• Maximize our work, our businesses, our careers. 

Valuable stuff.

It’s like robbing a bank without a mask.

The word “networking” makes many business people feel squeamish, icky, out of place. While transactional networking will always carry value for business owners, relational networking provides a richer experience: 

• Transactional is quid pro quo - Relational doesn’t keep score. It produces win-wins.
• Transactional represents a point in time - Relational has compounding effects that point both to and from.

2 Takeaways:

1. Build An Ethical Brain Trust - Though most of the academic learnings from B-School are a foggy memory for me – I do recall a former Professor imploring all of us to build an “ethical brain trust.” A small group of high integrity individuals where genuine and mutual respect across key factors (values, expertise, honesty) can help guide your business and career. Do you currently have an ethical brain trust, and if not - what would it take to cobble one together for you and your business?

2. The MPM Model: 1 Mentor + 1 Peer + 1 Mentee. Think of a basketball team with a starting 5. There's you, a grizzled veteran, two familiar teammates, and a wide-eyed rookie. You want to be a good teammate as a Business Owner, humble enough to take advice from the veteran, and empathetic enough to help the rookie. Are there veterans, teammates, and rookies in your business network?

1 Action:

Leverage LinkedIn.
The next time you're on LinkedIn, put your network to use. Go to “Settings & Privacy”, then “Data Privacy”, and finally, “Get a copy of your data.” Export your data to a CSV or Excel file where you can filter and sort your connections. I’m guessing you’ll find veterans, teammates and rookies who don’t know about your business, haven’t heard from you in awhile, but would enjoy hearing from you.

Your move.

Have a great rest of week and see you next Wednesday,

Hubert