Our initial and obvious network of highly skilled individuals would be those within our organization with whom we work
directly. They may have encountered similar situations and therefore have the experience to offer advice. They, too, will have a network of others within the company who can explore the situation further and offer advice and direction. Networking within our organization is not the end-all, though. We can network with our neighbors, our manager friends, our professional contacts (lawyers, architects, financial advisors, contractors, city servants/ services), and our personal friends and families. While our networks start out small, they grow exponentially through our network partners.
Our networks are vast and endless as our network partners can be local and global. Everyone within our network and our expanded network holds a wealth of information that will be helpful when we reach out. It is an avenue to exchange ideas and acts as an extra resource library. You see, trading information is invaluable. Networking not only serves as a tool to gather and exchange information, but also creates long-term relationships and provides help to solve the problems we encounter.
Gather and Exchange Information Keep in mind that trading ideas or services with each other provides knowledge, and knowledge is power. That power can provide us with confidence, self-fulfillment, and positivity and will command more respect when used with empathy and equanimity in a moral and supportive way.
Creating Long-Term Relationships On a professional level, my experience with networks started long ago. I was working in Lincoln Park when the owner of the company I worked with said that I should meet the manager across the street, who also worked with him. After he repeated this several times over a period of weeks, I finally said, “Why don’t we just go over there now, and you can introduce us?” So, we went there to meet the manager right then. Well, that relationship proved to be beneficial both professionally and personally as the manager happened to also live right across the street from me. Who knew it was such a small world! We became good friends from that day on. From there, I introduced myself to some of the other managers in the neighborhood. Through those relationships, the engineers, doormen, and parking staffs soon got to know one another, too. These long-term relationships became a foundation for my networking universe as it expanded throughout the years.
52 | COMMON INTEREST®
“
I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
– Maya Angelou Helping Each Other Out
The most value in networking is in helping each other out when needed. For example, a manager who worked next door to me but for a different company really helped me out of a potentially tragic and legal situation with my exterior contractor. One day the contractor crew announced they could not continue to work on the building. When I asked why, I was astounded by their answer. They explained that someone was throwing raw brown eggs at them from above and onto the scaffold, and that this was a hazard. Later that day, I discovered that the eggs were also damaging cars down below. This was needing immediate attention but how was I going to address and correct the situation? Well, once I figured out who the neighboring manager was on that side of the building, I contacted her and explained the situation. Back in those days, brown eggs were not common, and camera systems were expensive and not what they are today, so there was not going to be an easy way to identify who the person was who was throwing the eggs at the contractor.
After tossing ideas back and forth, we realized that there was an old fire escape on that side of the building where the eggs were likely coming from. To my surprise, she told me that she would go into the units on that side of the building and look in the refrigerators for brown eggs. The result? She found the brown eggs. A child living with a nanny while his/her parents were away most of the time was acting out by throwing the eggs, but once the manager addressed the issue with the family, the dangerous act stopped, and the contractor was able to continue their work. Without this neighbor networking, and the value she offered in helping find the culprit, we avoided potential damages to the contractors, property, the association, and the management company.
This caring person and the action taken by her really was meaningful, and I never forgot how that made me feel.
”
• Summer 2021 • A Publication of CAI-Illinois Chapter
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