The mother of all networkers!

Given my thirst for knowledge and passion/interest in networking I began a quest to learn the true origin to the art of networking. I spent countless hours researching, speaking with professionals and reading about networking. From the ancient Greeks and Romans and throughout history in every civilization successful people in every discipline embraced and mastered the skills of what we now call networking.

By definition (a JG3 definition), “networking” whether for business, social or otherwise is the process of establishing and maintaining a mutually beneficial relationship with other people, places and entities.

From a business only standpoint, networking’s primary purpose is for establishing and maintaining relations to share ideas, promote brand (corporate and personal) develop partnering opportunities, find potential clients and/or customers and grow the top and bottom line. We’ll cover this in greater detail and from many angles during the life of this blog.

While the roots of networking are pretty unclear. I can, with considerable certainty share with you who I believe first introduced many of us to or even exposed us to the skills of networking. This pioneer and magical person is affectionately known by many of us as, “Mom”…………yep………I kid you not!

Moms’s without their awareness; for decades and beyond, have mastered the art of networking, all for the sake of “love of child” and in some cases a little peace and sanity for their own lives too. Carpools, Little League, soccer practice, babysitters, music lessons, religious studies, doctors, dentists, cub/girl scouts and the list goes on and on, moms had this nailed down to a science. They knew or learned how to get it done, by themselves and or with the help of others. Mom's built a network that in many cases were flawless and rarely appreciated. Selfless to a fault, we can learn a lot by understanding why and how mom’s developed and worked their network. even more impressive by today's standards is that this was handled and executed without any formalized training, coaching, Anthony Robbins type audio or video series and or any other kind of paid subject matter education. Even today’s moms who can balance career and household get a JG3 standing ovation to the mastery of networking.

THIS ladies and gentlemen, is the stuff legends are made of. Like I mentioned in my opening post, the well being, happiness and success of others over self is the cornerstone to successful networking. The person or group that embodies a “what can I do to make others successful” philosophy will have incredible opportunity and success knocking on their own doorstep. So to all the moms out there, for all that you taught us, even today we say…………….THANKS!! - JG3

...........and so it begins................welcome!

I've been writing, doodling and kanoodling for years (I actually wrote for a newspaper one summer when back in school) and have finally decided with the encouragement of my daughter and others to shake the rust off and get with the program. At long last, I will augment my speaking and coaching activity, write a blog, share my thoughts and experiences and perhaps even publish those articles and finish that book I started to write but just never seemed to get it completed.

With nothing whimsical, witty or relevant to start this blog with this morning let me begin by saying thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy your time here.Welcoming your participation, feedback and criticism, I view every aspect of what I do in life as a dialogue, not a monologue.

After setting things up, I suddenly became paralyzed with this overwhelming sense of "OK jackass, now you have your blog set up, what are you gonna say?......................go ahead......dazzle me". Now, me of all people, had no idea what I wanted to say or discuss, in fact, I sat there, cup of coffee in hand saying to myself, "I got nothing". It was completely ridiculous. Several friends and loved ones who have been inspiring me for years to get off the schneid and do this have said to me, "John, don't worry about the "what", just write...............it will flow.......trust yourself". OK, I am ready!

The core of this blog is "networking". Professional, personal or both. We'll delve into the world of networking as a discipline, an art form and it's relevance in life, love, growth and more. Since this post is really more of an introduction we won't jump into the deep end of the pool just yet but I will leave you with one thought as a launching point going forward: One of the first and biggest mistakes made is that networking is ALWAYS about "others" and NEVER about "self".

Thanks for being part of my own little slice of cyberspace and always make it a great day! - JG3