Have you ever noticed that some people seem to possess a penchant for doing well in life while others struggle? Do you know anyone who has the best of intentions but just cannot seem to get it together? Often times those who succeed are not necessarily those who are the most talented, best educated or even particularly intelligent. What is it then that sets these people apart from the rest?
It seems to me that the answer to this question may be less of a mystery than we might imagine. I believe that the key to success is dependent upon our ability to network—to form relationships with others. The traditional view as to what it is that makes someone successful generally involves traits customarily regarded as “individual,” such as natural talent, intelligence, education and effort. However, in my view, success is not linked to individual attributes at all, but is intricately interwoven with the person’s networks and their ability to form relationships with others.
When we truly understand the importance of relationships, we can start to access hidden resources that will help us to succeed in all areas of our lives: business, family and the community. The networks we create and the way we put them to good use has been referred to as our “social capital,”*as opposed to our individual or “human capital,” which takes the form of knowledge, expertise and experience.
There is a growing body of research that supports previous anecdotal evidence that social capital increases performance, relationships and even one’s health. Individuals who network and build social capital are actually doing demonstratively better than those who do not; they are getting better jobs, better pay and faster promotions. They tend to be more influential, effective and happier than those who are unwilling or unable to benefit from the power of social capital. Successful people know how to develop rich social capital and reap the benefits in their business, professional and personal networks.
It is important to be clear that building and using relationships for self-serving and instrumental goals is not the message. If we create a network with the sole intention of getting something, we will not succeed. In my experience, someone who joins an organization with a “hunters” attitude—seeking to network that group for their own ends—will invariably fail. It is only when an individual is willing to contribute to others that they achieve the rewards, and these are often far in excess of what anyone would expect or predict. Building networks enables each of us to contribute to others and to tap into the universal law of reciprocity. The less we worry about reciprocity, the more we find it: the more we give to others without expectation or repayment, the more we are repaid in the future”.
We have a simple phrase for this in BNI; it is “Givers Gain.”
*From, “Achieving Success Through Social Capital,” by Wayne Baker.
