Tips on Hosting a NetWeaving Meeting
First, understand that for most people, “NetWeaving” is not perceived as PURE altruism. Realistically speaking, most of us “NetWeave” out of ‘enlightened self-interest’ which is based upon the ‘law of reciprocity’ and the belief that ‘what goes around, does come back around’. A NetWeaver's sincere motives are FIRST. . . to help the other person, but at the same time, he or she certainly wouldn’t mind if some good things happened as a result of their gratuitous acts.
When you ‘host’ a NetWeaving meeting to introduce two persons to each other, there is a natural question in the two ‘hostee’s’ minds, “Why is he or she REALLY doing this?” In this ‘what’s in it for me world’ we live in, this is perfectly natural.
That’s why it’s very important to start off every NetWeaving hosting meeting with a short overview of the NetWeaving concept to set the proper tone which is all about:
How can the two of you:
1) get to know each other better to hopefully accelerate forming a trusted
relationship;
2) find ways to help each other, either by introducing each other to someone
whom they might know, or by providing the other person with any resources
they or someone in THEIR network might be willing to provide - 'no-strings-
attached’ simply as a way of building the relationship.
Here are some ADDITIONAL tips:
- as mentioned previously, some persons don’t get it, and maybe will never get “NetWeaving”.. If you notice the other person is totally fixated on how this will help them, you might want to look for someone else to invite to be part of your hosting meeting.
- An important element of “NetWeaving” is helping the two ‘hostees’ to learn how to ‘inspire meaningful dialogue’ which moves the conversation fairly quickly from ‘small talk’ (the weather, the traffic, sports, and even about what you do) to a conversation which helps you both get to know each other below the superficial level.
A couple questions in line with this concept might include:
♣ "What’s the best book you’ve read lately or movie you saw, that somehow inspired you?"
♣ "Other than your spouse, or a parent or grandparent, who would you name as the person or persons who have had the greatest positive impact on your life and your career and what did they do or say that made the difference?"
♣ "In your particular industry and in these challenging economic times, what is your company doing to survive and hopefully prosper?"