May Ambassador Article

by Kurt Schafers

What is networking? A definition offered by Merriam-Webster is as follows: "the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business." That sounds great! But how does it work? A lot of people - including myself - struggle with how to get the best results from their network.

A couple of months back, Bill Ellis made a presentation to the Chamber on branding. During his presentation, he advised those in attendance to read "The Go-Giver" by Bob Burg and John David Mann. I read this book, and found that it provides great advice on how to utilize a network.

In the book, Joe, the main character, is an extremely hard worker who just cannot seem to land that one large account to put him over the top. He does not understand, since he is working harder than everyone else at his company. He is referred by a colleague to a very successful gentleman who would share with Joe the secret of success.

After meeting with the gentleman, Joe is shown the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success. In a nutshell, the gentleman's "trade secret" is about giving. The rest will take care of itself. Eventually, Joe is given the opportunity to put this into practice by referring business he could not take on to a competitor. Although Joe had his doubts, this gesture came back to benefit him in the end when this same competitor referred a substantial business opportunity to Joe. At long last, Joe was presented with the game changing opening he had been waiting for.

I took from the book that the best way to get results from a network is not to think about what you can get from your network, but what you can do to benefit others in your network. And the more I thought about it, the more this simple rule made sense. One can't approach "networking" by thinking only what they have to gain. Otherwise, they bring no value to the network. But if every person in the network thinks about how they can benefit other members of the network, then everyone is bringing something to the table. And everyone wins.

Shortly after reading this book, I received a phone call from someone in my network with a referral. I thought about what I had read. Although I had never had the opportunity to refer business to this person, I know that she will be the first one on my mind if an opportunity in her field comes my way.

Kurt Schafers
Cosgrove Law, LLC
1401 South Brentwood Blvd. Suite 560
St. Louis, Missouri 63144
(314) 563-2490
(314) 968-7371 (FAX)
kschafers@cosgrovelawllc.com