Play It Again, Sam!

from the desk of Ron Sukenick

It’s fundamental – people are more likely to repeat behaviors that bring them a feeling of reward. It’s the same with networking. At traditional networking events, the way it used to be, each of us tried our best to connect with certain other individuals. We thought those connections would be rewarding because of those people’s positions. Say I sold products or services that were used in hospital rooms. I would’ve been particularly interested in meeting you if I thought your position would make meeting you rewarding. Why? Well, either you worked for a hospital, or you sold products or services to hospitals and had an “in” at certain hospitals that I did not. I really wasn’t interested in you as a person, nor did I expect you to want to know me as an individual. Our purpose lay in our respective positions.

So, I zeroed in on you and started a conversation. If that looked as if it was going to be rewarding, (meaning I got some leads), I would keep trying the same approach with others in your position. I’d repeat my behavior, because I found that behavior gave me rewards.

NetBeing goes far beyond traditional position-based networking.(NetBeing is a word that was coined to capture the essence of a relationship mindset.) NetBeing has a person-to-person, not a position-to-position focus, and links to creativity, ideas, resources, and synergy, not just leads. Looked at from a NetBeing standpoint, even if it turned out that I got no leads at all from talking with you, I could still benefit from our conversation and find it rewarding. I might have gained valuable insights into the workings of hospitals. Perhaps, in the process of sharing experiences in sales, a new approach to selling to hospitals emerged for both of us.

So, what about leads? Don’t we need those to get rewarded in our careers? And, if we don’t find out what the other person’s position is, won’t we just waste our time, with nothing accomplished? The a-m-a-z-ing answer to that question is – that’s not at all what happens with connecting and with NetBeing. Once we broaden our focus and begin to build connections that transcend position, wonderful rewards start to happen for everyone. But, before we can enjoy those rewards, we need to break out of those set ideas about leads and positions.

Once we experience the rewards of NetBeing, with its long-lasting and more meaningful sharing with other business people, we’ll be wanting to do it again. After all, we’re human, and we repeat behaviors we find truly rewarding. Using the NetBeing approach, we’ll soon be saying, “Play it again, Sam!”