By Matt Anderson
Great Lakes Bureau Chief
(Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kentucky)
“People see you at your best when you’re doing things for charitable causes.” This point, made by Thomas J Stanley in his outstanding audio program Networking with Millionaires, has been stuck in my head since I first heard it over six years ago. A marvelous example of networking this way is the Altrusa club in Lexington, KY.
Altrusa is an international organization founded in Chicago in 1917 for professional and business women. Kelli Newman, an insurance professional for Midland National, coordinates her group’s major annual event called Mighty Moms. “We bring moms in the Central Kentucky area into Lexington for a weekend of pampering. These are moms of severely handicapped or sick children who spend 24/7 taking care of their kids with no time for themselves.”
Local businesses donate various services from hotel stays to massages, haircuts, movie trips, and visiting local attractions. Organizing this is a great way for Kelli to network more with club members as well as with other local business owners in a non-sales environment where the focus is on serving these mothers and giving them a chance to bond with other moms in similar situations.
The primary mission of Altrusa is literacy and education, and the Lexington club has a monthly program called Brains and Bellies. “Once a month we meet with underprivileged children and read to them, feed them, and give them a book to take home with them. We encourage their parents to participate and to read to them as well.”
Why network this way? “The community service work is so appreciated. It feels good to help.”
Plus there are business benefits. Sure, you could try networking to meet local women business owners at a chamber of commerce or a NAWBO event, but working for a cause greater than yourself speaks volumes for your integrity. It also brings you more credibility and it helps you develop stronger relationships in a much more favorable environment where business people can get to know you first and not your product or service. Kelli clearly ‘gets’ this. Comfort is one of the main reasons why people do business with us.
In his most recent book called YES!, Arizona State professor Robert Cialdini explains that you can get ahead much faster in life NOT by asking ‘who can help me?’ but instead by asking yourself ‘whom can I help?’ This is because you are leveraging the rule of reciprocation which states that when you help people in an authentic way, others feel obligated to reciprocate.
Altrusa’s yearly event, Make a Difference Day, is coming up very soon on October 25th. The organization has 15 districts around the world and many other at-large clubs. Check out www.altrusa.org if the mission appeals to you and you like the idea of meeting some of your community’s leading professional women.Posted to THE NATIONAL NETWORKER. To subscribe for your free newletter, go to www.TheNationalNetworker.com. For the complete National Networker Relationship Capital Toolkit and a free RSS feed, go to: http://thenationalnetworkerweblog.blogspot.com.
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