That’s why it’s especially appropriate that the first community on Xing to formally embrace the NetWeaving philosophy, principles, skill sets and strategies, is Global Business Women.
And not surprisingly, the number one group attracted to the concept within women’s organizations are women’s leadership groups who recognize that because they are more natural at NetWeaving than men, learning how to become an even more accomplished NetWeaver provides a significant advantage over their male counterparts.
But learning how to be a better NetWeaver both as a connector of others and a no-strings-attached resource for them is only part of the ‘heart’ of NetWeaving.
Becoming an advocate and ambassador of the concept and learning how to spread the word to others not only elevates your image in other’s eyes since it’s all based on Golden Rule principles, but if you genuinely enjoy helping others, your NetWeaving activities will energize you and make you better at everything you do.
NetWeaving started with a focus on sales and marketing, both in developing more meaningful relationships with existing clients and customers as well as developing new relationships with prospective ones. And as for ‘referrals’, NetWeaving makes raving fans out of existing clients and centers of influence, and even prospective clients.
But NetWeaving hasn’t only been appealing to those in sales and marketing. It has since morphed in several new directions:
- Professionals for the Human Resource sector began to recognize NetWeaving as a theme around which they could build a more collaborative spirit and culture internally and help tear down, or at least reduce, some of the walls and silos that exist within most companies
- Then persons from the non-profit sector started requested programs for Board Retreats in order to build deeper and more meaningful relationships among their board members and we discovered that it also helps them become more proactive in fund-raising among their key contacts
- Then recruiting and search firms, as well as persons in a job search mode, began to see how the ‘hosting’ aspect of NetWeaving provides not only a creative avenue to help land a job, but they recognized how spending a portion of their job-search time NetWeaving can be an important way to energize someone and help them maintain a positive mental attitude during what is usually a very lonely and depressing period.
- Finally, some of those involved in economic development of all varieties, recognized that the NetWeaving helps creative a more collaborative environment where differing factions can come together to find common grounds for agreement and cooperation.
Within Global Business Women, there are literally thousands of applications where NetWeaving can be encouraged and nurtured. But NetWeaving has gone one big step beyond merely connecting people; helping provide them with the resources and information they need, and showing people how to build a ‘Trusted Resource Network’ made up of persons who are exceptional what they do.
NetWeaving is not just about helping others because you genuinely believe in the law of reciprocity and that what goes around, does come back around. When you are helped, especially when someone introduces you to a person who ends up being able to help you in any number of ways, rather than paying her or him back, the NetWeav-ing approach trains people to ask the person or persons you have helped, to simply Pay It Forward, and to help connect two other people, or to provide someone else with the resources you, or someone in your Trusted Resource Network can provide – no-strings-attached.
That’s also why Catherine Ryan Hyde, the author of the book, “Pay It Forward”, on which the popular movie of the same name is based, has given Bob Littell, Chief NetWeaver, permission to refer to NetWeaving as “The BUSINESS version of Pay It Forward”.
And that’s what our real goal is within Global Business Women. . .to help others within our community and then challenge them to Pay It Forward and then do the same for someone or someones else.
If you lead an online women's community or group, we invite you to join a support and collaboration group we initiated in this community 'Women Who Lead'.
