Networking,amp,#58,Team,Sport, business, insurance Networking: A Team Sport

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A couple of years ago, I was scheduled to attend one of myBusiness Referral Exchange breakfast meetings in a locationabout 45 minutes away from my home. I'm so used to getting upearly to attend breakfast meetings, that I'm rather like afireman ready to slide down the pole and jump on the truck. Myclothes are laid out the night before. The alarm is set for 5:00AM. The coffee pot is set up and only needs to be plugged in.I've got just the right amount of time for one cup of coffee anda quick read of the morning's paper before I head out. I've doneit hundreds of times. It's always been the same...until oneparticular day.On that day, my dog, Bark, was not well. In fact she wasseriously not well. She was seriously not well all over my grayliving room carpet. I won't bore you with the details here, but Iknew what the problem was and I knew that she would need about ahalf an hour before she would be her old self again, and thatwithin that half hour she would need some TLC. I could forego thecup of coffee and the perusal of the paper and still make themeeting. I stroked her for a bit, and then jumped in the shower. When I came out, I put my contact lenses in, and YIKES! Theyhad been soaking in the wrong solution overnight. They had beensitting in pure, unadulterated peroxide. Swell. I yanked thelenses out and rinsed my eyes with water. They were so sore andswollen, I knew I'd never get the lenses back in and decided towear my glasses instead.I lost some valuable time between Bark and the lenses, but Icould still make the meeting if I hurried. I plugged in the blowdryer and it was dead. I reset the button in the plug. Stilldead. Okay, I guess that's what towels are for.I kept checking on Bark and racing to get out of the house. Itried makeup, but my eyes were so swollen and puffy, nothing wasgoing to stick. I took one look at my red eyes, frizzy hair, andnaked face and thought, "Gosh Leni, all someone would have to dowould be to slap a hair net on you, and you'd look just like oneof those women from your high school cafeteria!" Just the rightlook for an entrepreneurial woman! Oh well, gotta go. Iuncapped the mouthwash for a quick swig, and uh-oh, in my haste,I grabbed the wrong bottle. Instead of mouthwash, I had justswilled back nail polish remover! I was starting to get thefeeling this was not going to be my day.Stick with me. The part about networking will become clearer atthe end. I promise.I jumped in the car, put it in reverse and slammed on the brakesas I realized there was a pile of gravel seven feet high at thefoot of my driveway. It was meant for the house next door andhad wound up at my place instead. It took ten minutes for theworkers to clear a path for me, and I was off.I started to race for the highway as I was seriously late. I wasTHE speaker at the meeting, but my eyes were still swollen andteary. I reached over to grab a tissue from my purse. No purse. Oh boy. For the first time in my life, I started to think aboutthe expression, "driving without a license." What exactly doesthat mean, anyway? You don't have a license at all, or you haveone, but not on you? Hmm.No purse also means no money, no plastic, no checks, nobreakfast, no coffee. Amazingly, I arrived at the restaurantonly ten minutes late, but frazzled beyond belief. I was stillthinking about Bark, wondering if she was okay. My hair lookedlike I had stuck my finger in a light socket. My eyes werepractically swollen shut, and, as I got out of my car, I slippedon black ice, thus tearing a hole in my panty hose and bleedingfrom one knee. As I picked myself up I saw that in my haste, Ihad put on one black shoe and one blue shoe. At this point, Iwas pretty sure I should have stayed in bed.I entered the restaurant, and as I took my seat, I saw thewaitress approach with a pot of coffee. Knowing that I had nomoney on me, I covered the coffee cup with my hand as a signalnot to fill the cup. My timing was off, however, and sheproceeded to pour the scalding coffee on my hand.I had only been up for two hours and already a whole multitude ofdisasters had befallen me. Instead of my prepared speech onnetworking, I decided to stand up and tell my story to the group. As I looked out on the faces, I realized how grateful I was thatthese people were part of my network. I knew each one of them.We had all done business together. We had exchanged leads. Wehad become friends. I didn't have to explain to them that I'musually much better put together. They knew that. Instead offrowning upon my shortcomings that morning, each person foughtover who would buy my breakfast AND we had a good laugh.It was a fairly new group, started just about a month before. AsI stood before them, I realized we had reached a turning point.What had, only a short time before, been a roomful of strangers,had become a team, a network of people who genuinely cared aboutone another. We had helped each others businesses grow. We wereworking hard at bringing in referrals for one another. Everyonethere that morning was pulling together to help me in my hour ofneed, and that is truly the essence of networking. You see,networking is not only a contact sport; it is a team sport.Instead of taking care of just yourself, take care of the peopleon your team. They, in turn, will take care of you. Even on abad hair day.