It was hard to see her job because she wasn’t paid for it and no one really commented on it. Most people like me, hadn’t even realized that there was a job category for what she did. That is, until I read a book by Malcolm Gladwell, called The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference.
According to Gladwell, there are people with a special gift for the world together, people he calls “connectors.” “They are the kinds of people who know everyone. All of us know someone like this. But I don‘t think that we spend a lot of time thinking about the importance of these kinds of people,” says Gladwell.
Connectors usually know people across an array of social, cultural, professional and economic circles, and make a habit of introducing people who work or live in different circles. They are people who “link us up” with each other, with our neighbours and with our community. Gladwell characterizes them as, “People with a truly extraordinary knack… (for) making friends and acquaintances.” He attributes the social success of connectors to the fact that “their ability to span many different worlds is a function of something intrinsic to their personality, some combination of curiosity, self-confidence, sociability, and energy.”
We all understand the concept of networking when it comes to business, but we don’t equate the same concept with our personal or neighbourhood lives. I know my mom didn’t, and she truly was, one of these people who just knew who to connect with who. More than just a connector She had no agenda to advance her social or economic standing, in fact, her role as a “connecter” often took her to both ends of society, and it was always amusing to see her introduce people of vastly different social worlds to each other.
Of course, at the time, I didn’t understand the importance of what she did for the various people, or for our small town. I don’t think she did either, she just knew they had some passion or interest in common.
Long before Gladwell defined and valued the Connector, a sociologist named John McKnight, who, while working among struggling neighbourhoods, observed the way in which neighbourhoods were transformed when certain people who he called “Community Connectors” were set free to do their work.
After reading this, I realized that my mom was much more than a connector. She was a community connector! McKnight believes that such community connectors are “gift-centered” people. They see the “full half” in everyone. They are connected themselves, active in social and civic life. And, they know the ways of the neighbourhood. They believe in the people in the community. They are not cynical, doubting observers of local residents. They know that the community is rich in people resources. And they are people who get joy from connecting and inviting people to come together. They are not seeking to lead people; they just understand the good that comes by bringing the right people together. They are hospitable and willing contributors to their neighbours and the neighbourhood.
This was so my mom!
Sitting at a small coffee shop in another community the other day, I couldn’t help but overhear two young women speaking. It appeared that they had just moved to the city and had just met each other. One of the girls exclaimed to the other, “It’s great. We have so much in common.”
The other went on to say, “It’s hard to meet people here in Edmonton; in Vermillion, it was easy.”
As I listened to what they were saying, I couldn’t help thinking about my mom or about the many people right here in the ‘Hood, who would have been that welcomed passport to their community that these girls needed.
ARE YOU WILLING TO BE A CONNECTOR IN YOUR OWN NEIGHBOURHOOD?!
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