Start by picking 25 people you want to know, find one "anchor tenant" with an existing connection, then host dinners to bring them together. The goal is to become the person who creates the table, not the one waiting for an invite, by repeatedly hosting and connecting your guests.
If I lost my entire network tomorrow, here's how I would rebuild it from absolute zero. First step, I'd pick my mission. What is it that I want to achieve? And I'd identify 25 individuals that were crucial to opening the doors of opportunity to make that happen. Second, I would land what I would call my anchor tenant. Among those 25, who is somebody that I'm reasonably connected with that I could reach out to first? Make sure that I either have a relationship or I would lead with some source of generosity to be of service to that individual. Now I'd have a buddy in this Third, I would throw a dinner. Like when I was a broke student, I used my coffee table, a rotisserie chicken from the market, and a jug of wine put into a decanter. Fancy doesn't matter. What happens is connectivity. You're the host of putting a group of people together. Fourth, I would turn these strangers into a tribe. Give the dinner a theme. Lead a personal professional check-in where everybody in the room goes around and shares what's sweet and what's sour going on in their life. The way in which you invite people is you would say, hey, would you like to come to dinner with me and so-and-so? Last, Keep it going. Host again and again. Connect your guests. Keep the relationships among these individuals strong. You're merely the host. You're merely the Sherpa. They're not coming for you. They're coming from each other. If you're starting from zero, stop waiting to be invited. Create the table itself.
