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| The other day a friend told me she just had dinner with different friends of hers who didn’t know each other…YET! At one point, after identifying a potentially beneficial connection, she decided to make the meeting happen! How proactive! How intentional! How thoughtful! Has anyone ever put you in contact with someone they thought you should meet? To help you? To help the other person? Because it might be beneficial for everyone? Have you ever made a point of connecting a couple of your friends who didn’t know each other before? As we continue to rebound from the isolation endured since 2020, it’s worth reminding ourselves that there are plenty of potential connections hidden within our spheres of influence. Maybe it’s up to US to make them happen! This isn’t just plain old “networking”. This is intentional networking. Proactive Networking. Networking with purpose. Nurturing the connections. Searching within our spheres for the lucrative links that can be made. That WE get to make! Realizing our good fortune to know these people in the first place! Recognizing that we hopefully get to foster at least ONE, if not a few, of these connections. Here are 3 great reasons to put this idea into action, as liaison this week, this month, or this year: 1. SHARING and HELPING others: Be not afraid to share a connection of someone with someone. If you know two people who would benefit from being connected, make it happen! You are HELPING them! Keeping it to yourself, for whatever reason, isn’t benefitting anyone. You need to put it out there, into the universe! Please SHARE! Some connections are SO obvious! Maybe it happens organically. Perhaps it takes multiple attempts to get the connection going. Keep at it! Especially if you are convinced of it being an advantageous alliance. It will be worth the continued effort What if a suggested connection isn’t well received? So what?!? It’s not about you! Maybe the timing is bad, the person isn’t ready, they’ve got something serious going on in their lives. If the union still looks viable down the line, suggest the meeting again, and again, and again! Most importantly, do not let fear stop you in your tracks or prevent you from suggesting other plausible combinations. You have a role to play and you have everything you need. Don’t keep it to yourself! SHARE! 2. BEING PRESENT and FOCUSING on others: You will genuinely start to be more present and focused on others because you will really want/need to know what others do! If you decide to facilitate some great connections (because you know you can!), possibilities will show up everywhere and all the time. Instinctively, then habitually, you will want to know MORE about every friend, relative and new acquaintance you encounter. Why not say “Tell me more about what you do”? Imagine how wonderful they will feel from your sincere interest in them. Not to mention when an actual connection is made, fulfilling their need, and/or vice versa! 3. SHIFTING attention onto others: When you take the attention OFF yourself, things just seem to flow more easily because actions are authentic and come from that genuine place. The mindset is no longer “what can I GET from them”, it’s “what can I DO FOR them?”. And that’s a beautiful thing! While there should be no ulterior motive, there is great reward in knowing you were responsible for making a great connection. As a byproduct, they may want to know more about you, and help you in return. And round and round we go…so beautiful! As human beings we were made for CONNECTION. All of us have some very worthwhile connections to SHARE! Imagine the possibilities if we facilitate 1, 2, 3 good connections this year, this month, this week? Imagine the ripple effect? Let’s take the opportunity to bridge the gaps! Can you think of a few right now? Take one minute to write down them down. Now get proactive! Let’s get these people connected! Let’s SHARE! |