If you haven’t noticed, I have a thing for dominos. And it makes perfect sense when you look at my passion. You see, when it comes to perfecting your connecting, it’s all about the domino effect.
The domino effect refers to a small change that will cause a similar change nearby, which then will cause another similar change like a falling row of dominos standing on end. The domino effect can also relate to a chain of events in our life. Every time we connect the dots for someone else in our network, it causes a chain of events that could end up eventually circling back to you in ways far greater than you could ever imagine.
When Hurricane Katrina stormed into New Orleans two years ago, like many of you, I watched in horror as the images of death and despair were paraded across the TV screen. I didn’t know anyone personally affected by the storm, but I desperately wanted to help.
A few days later I received an e-mail from a woman named Betsy whom I had recently been connected to in Denver. A colleague of hers named Kelli, who was part of her network, lived in New Orleans and was nine months pregnant and ready to deliver at the time Katrina hit.
The New Orleans hospital where Kelli had taken refuge had lost power and the generators were sitting in six feet of rapidly rising, muddy water. She and her husband we’re evacuated in the middle of the night to a Baton Rouge hospital where she safely delivered their first child.
Kelli and her husband only had time to grab a few personal items from their home, fully intending to return in a couple of days. However, their home was destroyed. The baby nursery they spent eight months painting and decorating with all the new baby furniture was under muddy, contaminated water.
Betsy’s e-mail explained that Kelli and her husband were planning on traveling to Austin, Texas where they would take refuge in Kelli’s sister’s home and begin to rebuild their lives there.
Through the power of networking – spearheaded by a true connector like Betsy who connects the dots for her network every day – by the time the family reached Austin, there was baby furniture, clothing, money, and Visa gift cards waiting for them; it was all donated by people spread out around the country, many of whom had never met Kelli or her husband, but who sprang into action to make a difference. Talk about a domino effect!
This was not FEMA, the Red Cross or the Clinton-Bush Relief Fund that helped put this family back on their feet: It was normal people, like you and me… people connected to people. If you’ve followed the amazing stories of lives being rebuilt in the Gulf Coast cities and towns destroyed by Katrina, then you know most of the work has been done by volunteers and regular people who stepped out and took action… causing a domino effect to happen in those communities.
Remember change happens one connection at a time.
That day, Betsy’s social capital shot up for all of us in her network as we witnessed the domino effect. She created a very tangible and intentional way for her network to make a difference.
It’s no coincidence that later that month Betsy launched her new company http://www.CampExperience.com and the support from her network was nothing less than astounding. Every resource she needed including people, opportunities and ideas poured in from her network at exactly the time she needed them. Betsy is changing the world and she will tell you it’s all because of her network. What goes around comes around.
Perfecting Connecting® Action Steps:
Ask yourself these questions, and then do something about it!
1. What are you doing to intentionally connect the dots for your network?
2. When was the last time you demonstrated your value to your network? This is how you increase your social capital.
3. What might happen if you stepped out in faith and knocked over the first domino?
One of my readers recently sent me this quote from Erma Bombeck, whom I have always loved and still miss:
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, “I used everything you gave me.”
Let the first domino fall.
