Trust-based Networking Critical for Business Success

This article is based on material from The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook with co-author Andrea P. Howe.

The world is flat. So says author Thomas L. Friedman, and he's right. The horizontal has replaced the vertical in critical business relationships of all types, which means trust and influence are up, and command and control are down.

Since horizontal relationships are what characterize most networking, the principles of networking are even more important today than in the past. Here are some specific rules for better networking, both old and new.

Why Networking from Trust?

The usual objective of networking is to find others who can be helpful to you. Trust-based networking is based on a different premise—the search for others to whom you can be helpful.

This should sound familiar if you're familiar with trust-based selling. The objective of normal selling is to get the customer to buy what you have for sale; the objective of trust-based selling is to help the customer buy what's right for the customer.