Chapter 12
Trust-Based Networking
Networks and community have always been important in business. Technology has changed some mechanics of networking, but not its fundamental nature. Trust-based networking is still about focus on the other: listening, respect, low self-orientation, and transparency. This chapter explores trust-based strategies to help you network in any context, and shows you how the Internet has and hasn’t changed how you network.
The goal of most business networking is to make new connections to get more business. The goal of trust-based networking is to help other people develop their businesses. As a collateral side effect, when you behave this way your own business benefits as well.
The goal of most business networking is to make new connections to get more business. The goal of trust-based networking is to help other people develop their businesses.
Trust-based networking presents precisely the same dynamic we have pointed out elsewhere in this book: in delivery, in business development, in interactions. In a series of many short interactions, you practice the same principles that apply to longer, deeper interactions. Those principles are familiar by now: focus on the other person, be willing to share and collaborate, assume that relationships will continue in the future, and believe that by serving others, you will be well-served yourself.
Properly used, technology can greatly support and amplify trust-based networking. Improperly used, technology ...
