What is a network?

What is a network?

In the past four years I have lived in San Francisco, London, Princeton (New Jersey), and I am about to move to Raleigh / Durham, North Carolina. This mobility has forced me to up my game as a professional networker to the point that I now offer seminars and workshops on the topic. As a recovering introvert I have come a long way in my ability to connect with people and build a network.

I owe a great deal to Keith Ferrazzi and his wonderful book, Never Eat Alone. His clear and straightforward style helped me understand that powerful networking is not natural. It must learned. Keith is a master and his book is an invaluable primer.

As I distilled and digested Keith’s ideas, I concluded that good networking comes down to three basic principals: active links, mutually beneficial introductions, and taking the call.

Mortgage Debacle

Gretchen Morgensen has written an insightful article in the Sunday Business Section of the New York Times. After the heartbreaking introduction of a homeowner in New Jersey who would like more than anything to keep her home, Gretchen offers the following insight:

Lenders, government officials and loan servicers, who take in borrowers’ monthly mortgage payments, contend that troubled borrowers everywhere are being helped to stay in their homes by those overseeing their loans. But neither data nor anecdotal evidence supports this view. A recent survey of 16 top subprime loan servicers by Moody’s Investors Service found that for the first six months of 2007, an average of only 1 percent of loans experiencing an interest rate adjustment, or reset, had been modified.

A few minutes of logical thought would lead one to assume that lowering the interest rate of troubled loans so that the homeowner can continue to make payments and keep the house would be the best result for all concerned. …