Networking with neighbors: Don't forget about the people you see every day
In the midst of all of that, we ignore possible connections a little closer to home, like the ones that share our same street. Oh, we'll wave to them as we drive past, but how well do we really know about the family next door?
I was chatting with a new friend, John Krzesicki (pronounced "Krezicki") a few months ago. In addition to filling me in on the exciting world of being a self-employed business development strategist, he was telling me about the adventures of his daughter, Kristen. Among other impressive accomplishments, she spent a couple of months studying in China. Unfortunately, in the midst of that visit, she had her wallet stolen with all of her money and credit cards.
Now from John's description of her, she is a remarkably resourceful young woman and probably could have made do, somehow. Still, we dads will always want to help when our little girls get in trouble. Unfortunately, trying to wire money into China is apparently an act not meant for the faint of heart, so John was a bit limited in what he could do.
Fortunately, being a great networker, John had met and maintained good relations with his neighbors.
Guess what? One of those neighbors just happened to be an executive with a company based in Shanghai. With a single call, that neighbor was able to make sure that Kristen could focus on her studies and not have to worry about how she was going to be paying for dinner.
Of course, this is kind of an unusual series of coincidence. What are the chances? Still for a little bit of effort, John has a remarkably powerful segment of his network made up of the people who he sees every day when he leaves for work.
Makes you kind of wonder who's living a few doors down from you.
Greg Peters, founder of The Reluctant Networker, LLC, writes, speaks and coaches about good networking practice. For more tips that can help your connections count go to www.thereluctantnetworker.com