If there is any complaint I hear more than any other, it is that those we send messages to about jobs opportunities are not responsive. Sometimes even when a company or recruiter has taken the time to interview one of our members, weeks and weeks later all that is heard is silence.

If this disappointment and/or anger truly reflect how we feel about the “outside world,” it makes me wonder why it is that I hear rumors from time to time that MEMBERS are being unresponsive to one another.

Here within our little society called The FENG we have the opportunity to receive many benefits from building relationships with each other. Access to 34,000 folks from every industry, from every part of the country, and from every aspect of the financial disciplines is something you “can’t beat with a stick.”

I write frequent editorials encouraging members to “reach out and touch” members who are new to our organization, and many of you have picked up this torch and are running with it. It was one of my many “stupid” ideas that I thought would work to achieve our common goals and create a bond among us that other organizations only wish they had. It is now succeeding to a degree I never imagined would be possible. God bless all of you who have made this activity part of your weekly routine.

I also frequently tout the benefits of networking yourself to each and every one of those individuals in The FENG with whom you share any kind of background connection.

If you want others to make themselves available to you, you have to make yourself available to them. That means you not only should ensure that your directory listing is accurate, but also that you extend the same courtesy to others that you would like them to extend to you when you need help.

To those who have experienced disappointment with your fellow members I would suggest that you understand the simple fact that at any point in time, everyone doesn’t “get it” yet. It is my hope that somewhere along the line they will. It takes a bit of exposure to what we are trying to accomplish to actually believe it is true. If it isn’t totally true today, let’s hope that if individually we work on it, it will be some day.

If all you want is a job listing service, you have come to the wrong networking group. My goal, and I hope yours as well, is to create something much better that will serve us well for the rest of our careers.

6 degrees of separation may be fine for the rest of the world, but let’s see how close to zero we can get.

Regards, Matt