Networking or Netweaving . . . what's the diff?

by Byron Woodson II

So, in recognizing what's been happening around me, i realize that there's a significant difference between networking as many people think about and practice it and netweaving. The state of networking today seems to be 'me, me, me' where the state of netweaving seems to be 'you, you, you'. i think of the distance between netweaving and networking across a continuum.

On the low end of the networking side you have networkers only looking to get clients and business for themselves. The next rung up you have people who are looking out for the people in their network, passing along tidbits and information among their group. On the highest rung you have people who are actively and avidly looking to bring other people together to make things happen.

I've heard the phrase 'relationship broker' and that sounds a little seductive. However, it seems that a relationship broker implies doing something between two parties. Netweavers, as they're called, don't just seek to broker relationships, but to build communities that may have a common cause or purpose, or build communities of like minded people.

Netweavers are constantly on the lookout for how they can help others. Networkers are constantly on the lookout for how to help themselves.