Several years ago, when I was running a networking group, a prospective member told me that regrettably he couldn’t join our group because he was concerned about knowing too many printers. This particular individual was the member of a group that required its members to pass all business leads to group members. The only time that they could pass a lead outside of the group would be if the discipline didn’t exist in the group.
This is a theme that I have heard repeat itself many times since. Sometimes it is for similar reasons to the story above and other times it has to do with an individual wanting to pass potential business to “friends” and having to many “friends” from one discipline might be hard to reconcile.
Saying you know too many printers is like saying you know too many brain surgeons. If you have a client or someone you value who has a brain tumor, do you want to know just one brain surgeon? What kind of resource would this make you? What would happen if you knew a few good brain surgeons well and your network could connect you to more?
Next week: Understanding the 3-stakeholders in networking.
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