I had another blog all set for this week until Friday when I had a string of events happen that made this blog much more important.

Whether we think about it consciously or subconsciously, networking will always be a key to succeeding whether personally or professionally. Professionally you may be trying to meet people who may buy from you, sell to you,  hire you, or be hired by you.  Personally you might meet someone who refers a builder, babysitter, lawyer, etc.

I realized a strange thing recently about networking.  It’s not always about how it furthers my momentum and interests, but rather how it supports the networking of others.  I can give you a number of valid examples that occurred this past Friday.

Friday morning I met my friend and fellow recruiter Joe Brown prior to attending Social Media Breakfast.  On the ride there he asked about candidates I might know for a project he is working to staff.

We arrived at Social Media Breakfast (An extremely popular Social Media networking group) and prior to the start of the event we ran into Cathy Paper (A great communicator who embodies the networking approach outlined in this blog).  Cathy, in turn, invited me to a networking event at her client Morsekode, where I ran into Brian Fisher one of their client managers.  Oddly enough I’ve played hockey with him weekly for the past year and never knew what he did for a living or where he worked .  As it turns out, they have a need for strong web development talent at which point I mentioned another guy we play hockey with as a possibility (I can’t mention his name as he is currently working full-time for another company).  They will be connecting this week.

Of course, when we network, we all look for “what’s in it for me”.  However, being helpful to others will often result in long term gain for the giver as well as the recipient.

When all is said and done, everyone needs the give and take that networking provides.  In my experience, if you are a giver, you will receive. If you are a taker, you may receive initially until people figure you out and then your well will run dry.