Forwarding the Conversation

How do you act as an agent of connection? That is, how do you connect people’s conversations? In my experience, one of the most important aspects of connecting conversations is by being trusted.  By acting as a trusted node those whose conversations you’re connecting will feel comfortable in the fact that you are leading them down a “safe” path. I put the word safe in quotations because safe does not mean comfortable, nor does it mean easy.

Once you are considered trusted it is also important to know your purpose. You don’t necessarily need to have a specific purpose in connecting two conversations, though you do need to understand how bringing people together will benefit your greater purpose. For me, by knowing my own purpose I am able to listen for conversations that I feel should be connected in fulfillment of my greater purpose. Specifically my greater purpose is to end poverty and bring an equality of opportunity to the world. Therefore, I listen for conversations that are moving down that path and work to connect them in any way that I can.

Above is a video from Global X which is a site that posts interviews with leading social entrepreneurs. Below you will find a quick description of the video.

2008-06-03

Taffy Adler – Johannesburg Housing Company

Taffy Adler works in Johannesburg, a city often described as one of the most dangerous places to work in the world, but he has been able to get the trust from the community by giving its people the right opportunities to help them grow.

He shares two pieces of advice with Global X: “First, stay focused! Don’t get distracted. Second, it’s hard to argue with success, so plan to launch a successful organization, and other things will come to you.”