One thing that I like to do is to connect people that I think you should know each other and watch to see what happens. Sort of like grabbing a bunch of live wires and splicing them together to see what becomes of it. I don't know why God wired me this way but it's something I'm good at. This last year I've had a ton of fun watching a few things take off from these connections.
Today I am a part of another event where I'm hoping some of these connections happen. There are about 75 youth workers in the DFW area meeting at Irving Bible Church for lunch today. It's being sponsored by Youth Specialties and they are going to talk about the National Youth Workers Convention, Planet Wisdom and a few other new things.
I'm bringing the amazing team of people I work with at Highland Park Pres and looking forward to meeting some new people and reconnecting too.
So here's my question. Do you network to "get" something or do you network to "give" something. I'll be honest first and say part of my networking is to make some friends who do the same things that I do and "get it" but generally I network because I feel like the resources I have should be used by more than just me. I'm not trying to make a living off of networking, I don't have anything to sell you, I am not trying to make my name big.
A lot of people don't network at all. I'm not even surprised anymore by the people who hunker down in their churches here in Dallas and don't get to know anyone. But, I think that we all need to realize that the reality is that every single kid in our youth group will leave at some point and if we are networked and connected we can introduce these students to people and churches where they might be heading.
So do you network? What's a network success story? What's a network failure? Let's talk about it.
Giving is an essential implication of the gospel. So it’s no wonder that most people who network successfully are into networking more for how it can benefit the other person rather than themselves. There is an international business network called BNI (which I think stands for Business Networking International, or some such) that is based on this very philosophy of giving business to others. In chapters all over the world, BNI members come to weekly meetings for the sole purpose of giving business referrals to their colleagues.
Some great examples of where networking is beneficial:
1. You are networked with a college pastor in a city where one of your graduates is heading to college – and you’re able to refer this student to a ministry you really trust.
2. You’re networked with another youth pastor in a city that one of your families is moving to – again, connecting this family with a church you trust.
3. You’re networked with several Christian counselors, enabling you to make great referrals for teens and parents in your ministry.
Greg- Good comments. I appreciate you taking the time to get this rolling.