How to Build An Unbreakable Network & Change the World
All of us want to make a dent in this world. We want to do something incredible and make sure the world knew we were here. But most of us don’t know how. Enter Rosa Parks — one of the best network builders our world has ever seen.
Until recently, all I knew of Rosa Parks was her famous bus ride where she decided to stand up for something she believed in by not moving to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama.
From this small spark of a bus ride came a movement which then spread throughout the south and later became a significant piece in starting the civil rights movement that to this day is still shaping our country.
It’s Not Just About a Bus Ride
But, was it just a seat on the bus? Did Rosa know something you and I don’t about creating a movement?
When we look at what happened on the bus that day we are made to believe it is an isolated incident. We’re made to think that Rosa started a movement — that Rosa made her dent all by herself with no help or assistance from others. All of it was just luck. Right place. Right time.
But this isn’t the whole story. It’s not even the best part of the story. Rosa Parks move to the front of the bus shook the foundations of our society on December 1st, 1955. And it wasn’t because of an isolated choice of bravery. Rosa Parks decided to be brave because she was one of the most networked people in Montgomery, Alabama.
A Network That Will Blow Your Mind
Charles Huhigg, in his bestselling book The Power of Habit, tells the story of Rosa in a way most people haven’t heard before. It’s the most critical part of her story. It was more than a seat on a bus. Rosa was a person whose ties ran deep into the social scene of Montgomery — across nearly every racial and economic line.
“She was the secretary of the local NAACP chapter, attended the Methodist church, and helped oversee a youth organization at the Lutheran church near her home. She spent come weekends volunteering at a shelter, others with a botanical club, and on Wednesday nights often joined a group of women who knit blankets for a local hospital. She volunteered dressmaking services to poor families and provided last-minute gown alterations for wealthy white debutantes. She was so deeply enmeshed in the community, in fact, that her husband complained that she ate more often at potlucks than at home.” — Charles Huhigg, The Power of Habit.
For Rosa, she was a common thread against groups that you wouldn’t usually intertwine. But, why is this important? A single person sitting on a bus isn’t enough to start a movement. Upon Rosa’s arrest, within hours the right people in Montgomery knew about it. And because they knew Rosa and were well networked, the spark on the bus quickly became a wildfire which then spread across the south.
So, what can you and I learn from someone like Rosa Parks? If we want to go out and make this incredible impact in the world, what must we do?
Build a network.
The bigger the network, the bigger the dent
Rosa spent her life attaching herself to other people. She was by all accounts a networking genius. It was this investment she made over the course of years that made the day she decided to sit on the bus only a small piece to the puzzle that later shaped a nation.
For you and I to go out into this world and do something worth remembering, we have to learn to include others in this endeavor. You must do this. Otherwise, the dent we want to make can’t force its ripples from our life into others.
Revolutions or movements don’t happen from one action, and they don’t happen overnight. They occur in slow relational investments made over time.
Was Rosa hoping to make a statement that day on the bus? Of course, she was. But Rosa had spent her life making other statements too — most notably in the investment she made into others. See, Rosa understood the power of community. She realized the potential of relationships and building a strong network.
Your most significant contribution in life won’t happen off of one moment. It will happen in many moments where relationships form.
So how does it begin?
It’s more than social
Our natural bent will be to tell ourselves the best way to make a dent in this world is just to make friends. Friends are a start — but you must learn to mine the gold in relationships.
You must build a network. It’s about getting out and serving others and building patrons. It’s about giving before you start taking. I can tell you; this will be one of the hardest things you do in this world. Our natural bent is to take — we must learn how to give.
In the end, it’s more than just being social. It’s about being intentionally active in the lives of other people to where you can feel relationships form through giving.
Here’s How You Get Started
This week, I want you to pull a Rosa Parks. I want you to force yourself to get involved in something you may not have done before. Reach out to someone and offer value as you’ve never done before. Start being a part of a community or group of people who invest in one another. A small group of others is where networks build.
It won’t come easy at first. In fact, it may come more difficult than you would like. But in the end, I know you will find it worth it. In the end, you will be on your way to making the dent you realize you need to make.
The movement Rosa Parks made that day on the bus probably will never happen again. That’s ok. It doesn’t have to. But what needs to happen is our investment in people and relationships. If you want to make your dent — that’s what needs to happen.
Do this Now:
Networks begin with relationships. Relationships aren’t easy, but you don’t have to suck at them. Download my free guide on how you can begin forming strong relationships TODAY and get the life you want. Click here to download the guide now.
