It's Who You Know

10 Cultivate connections and exchange value

I was working with a client, Anthony. We were due to have one of our monthly mentoring meetings but there had been a mistake in our diaries — Anthony was in the city waiting for a face-to-face meeting while I was sitting in my office in the Northern Beaches of Sydney waiting for a virtual hangout. Yikes!

Only the previous week I had introduced Anthony to one of my 12 key people, my Cheerleader, Kieran. As our mentoring session was about to kick off, he bumped into Kieran.

‘Hi Kieran,' said Anthony. ‘I'm on my way to meet Janine.'

‘Great,' said Kieran. ‘I'll come up and surprise her.'

At this point, I called Anthony and we discovered the mistake. But then the magic happened.

‘Why don't I stay and do the mentoring session?' offered Kieran. ‘I've got an hour to spare.'

Win–win. Anthony ended up having us both in on the conversation — one face to face and one on the phone. As Anthony put it, ‘I don't think I know anyone who would step in like that for me.'

So who has your back? Who in your network would step in for you?

This is a great example of the power of connection. And this is the network you are aiming for. You know when you've got it down pat: when you've cultivated the right relationships, this mutual value exchange happens organically and naturally.

Networking is a shared experience. It is based on an exchange of mutual value. ...