Lunch with a VIP - Robert Littell, Littell Consulting Services

Tim Darnell

February 1, 2008

The Restaurant:  The Buckhead Club

Google the word "netweaving"  and you'll likely get close to 20,000 results. But the man who pretty much started all those netweaving links is right here in Atlanta.

I first met Robert Littell more than 10 years ago, when he helped me set up an interview with one of the first people I ever profiled in Business to Business, Sam Massell. Since then, netweaving has enabled Littell to pretty much concentrate most of his professional time on the concept.

"Netweaving reverses the more traditional mindset of networking, which focuses on ‘Can you help me?' or the sales context, which is, ‘Are you a prospect for whatever it is that I have to offer?'" Littell says. "Instead, netweaving helps people learn to listen with a second pair of ears and be tuned in with a second set of antennae, to be alert to the answers of three questions: ‘Who do I know who would benefit meeting this person?' ‘Could this person provide information or resources to someone else I know?' and ‘Has this person already impressed me so much that I need to get to know him or her better, and if over time do I need to make him or her part of my trusted resource network?'"

Littell says traditional networking has two major weaknesses – superficiality (since people primarily are focused on their own or their company's interests, networking dialogues tend to be short ‘qualifying' conversations); and lack of follow-up and follow-through.

"Netweaving helps ‘fast-track' the process by which persons go from meeting someone for the first time, to where trust is established and maintained," Littell says. "The key element in this process involves learning how to inspire meaningful dialogue and enrich the experience."

The concept not only has spread around the United States, but last year the NetWeaving International Community on Xing (www.xing.com), Europe's largest online community, was launched.

For more information

Go to www.netweaving.com and take the NetWeaver Skills Aptitude Assessment to see how you score as a netweaver. If you've started adopting netweaving and it isn't working as you'd hoped, it may help you discover some reasons why your netweaving isn't coming back around.

About the restaurant

Since its origin in September 1988, the Buckhead Club has established itself
as a premier private club in Buckhead and the north Atlanta community. The membership roster includes many civic and business leaders within the Buckhead community as well as representatives from local and national businesses.

The Buckhead Club's current lease expires in September and the facility will relocate from the Atlanta Financial Center to a new building developed by Regent Partners across the street, at 3344 Peachtree.

Two dining options for lunch Monday - Friday (formal dining in the Habersham Dining Room or a self-service buffet of soup, salad, and a featured hot entree, plus a deli sandwich menu, in the grille)

Full dinner service Wednesday-Saturday

Nine private dining rooms for meetings and social events from 2-300 people

Buckhead Club
3343 Peachtree Road, NE, Suite 1850
Atlanta, GA  30326
Phone:  404-262-2262
Fax:  404-231-3738
www.buckhead-club.com