People Connectors
"The way of the world is meeting people through other people."
Robert Kerrigan
While there will always be room in anyone's wonderful life for good connections with good people, from a business networking point of view, this can become a problem.
The solutions is hidden in the notion of "six degrees of separation" - the idea that we are all only six people away from anyone in the world, be it a yak farmer in Outer Mongolia or the President of the United States.
This notion originally evolved from an experiment done by psychologist Stanley Milgram in the late 1960's. 160 people in Nebraska were given packages with instructions to try and get those packages to a stockbroker who lived in Massachusetts.
When Milgram tracked the trail the packages had gone through to reach their target, he found a surprising fact. Not only was the average number of steps the package took between 5 and 6 (hence 6 degrees of separation), over half of the successfully delivered packages had been finally forwarded on to the stockbroker by the same three people.
These three people acted as hubs for the social network - focal points which connected not just people to people but network to network.
One of the most famous of these hubs, or as the author Malcolm Gladwell calls them "People Connectors", is the actor Kevin Bacon from the internet game "6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon". The object of the game is to connect anyone in show business to Kevin Bacon in six names or less.
The game is surprisingly easy, although research shows that Bacon is only ranked 669th on the all-time connected actor list. (Number one is Rod Steiger, star of a number of films from the '50's and '60's including "On the Waterfront" and "In the Heat of the Night".)
So what are the implications of all this for streamlining your network?
*Contrary to conventional wisdom, you do not need an extensive network to get full value from the process of networking.*
In fact, an extensive network may slow you down. All you need is to maintain strong relationships with a few People Connectors and you can replace your rolodex with a short list of five to ten names. This allows you to spend less time "networking" and more time talking with the people you really want access to.
This doesn't mean you need to turn down friend requests on MySpace or FaceBook; it just means that you can stay connected with your connections and friendly with your friends in a fraction of the time.
TODAY'S EXPERIMENT
1. Over the next few days, make a list of everyone you know who would be
happy to receive a phone call from you.
2. Go through your list and circle the people you suspect to be People
Connectors. They're always on the guest list, throw great parties, seem to
bump into people they know everywhere they go, and often are keen to get the
people they know together.
3. Now, think of some things you can do to be of service to these people.
One of the best ways to do this is to introduce them to some people you
think they might like. After all, People Connectors are usually People
Connectors because they enjoy connecting with new people!
4. Finally, brainstorm some other "People Connectors" it might be worth
adding to your new, very manageable network. A good way to do this is to ask
everyone you know, "Who is the most connected, plugged in person you know?"
If a name comes up again and again, this person will probably an excellent
addition to your network.
