There are thousands of examples of networkers throughout history but several exceptional people stand out. Have you ever wondered how these exceptional people networked? How did they use their skills to create mutually beneficial relationships? Who was in their network and how did they meet the influential people in their lives?

Well, join us as we present to you Great Networkers Throughout History

First in our series is Mary Cassatt.

Self-portrait

Cassatt was an American born French Impressionist. She is one of only three women in the movement and the only American. Most well known for her conservative painting of mothers with their children, however Cassatt’s own life did not resemble the quaint simplicity of her paintings.

Although she was born in Pittsburgh in 1844, Cassatt spent much of her childhood in Europe and by the time she was ten she was fluent in several languages. Her affluent family valued education and thought travel was the best way to encourage an interest in learning. After attending Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Cassatt, against her parent wishes, moved to Europe and traveled alone. She eventually settled in Paris and fell into the Bohemian lifestyle.
It was during this time that she met Edgar Degas. She was walking by a gallery window when she caught a glimpse of Degas famous ballet dancers. Cassatt later reflected on this moment by saying,” I saw art as I wanted to see it. I began to live.”

At this same time Degas saw her pieces in the Paris Salon. The two met in 1874 and began a life long friendship. Degas invited her to join the impressionist and introduced her to art legends, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, and Camille Pissarro.

Edgar Degas

Together they developed the impressionist movement and promoted their work, exhibiting in their own shows.

Cassatt contributed more than her artwork to Impressionism. She used her wealth to financially back the movement. She would buy her friends paints and encourage many of her affluent American friends to buy Impressionist art. In fact most of the Impressionist art in American collections is a result of her efforts.

After her tenure with the Impressionist, Cassatt continued to paint and travel. She spent time in Spain as a guest of Phillip II and worked as his painter.

In 1892 she was commissioned to paint a mural for the Women’s building at the Chicago Worlds Fair.

Later in her life Cassatt became a role model to young women and even mentored a young Lucy A. Bacon.
Forced to give up painting because she was nearly blind Cassatt turned her attention to the women suffrage movement in 1914. She used her influence and networking abilities to support her friends and draw attention to the movement.
Cassatt died on June 14, 1926 near Paris leaving only her artwork and legacy behind.
As of 2005, her paintings had sold for as much as $2.8 million

Cassatt’s most famous connection was Edgar Degas but who else was in her network? Here is a list of the influential people who were most likely in Cassatt’s primary circle at various times in her life:
• Gustave Flaubert – author of “Madame Bovary”
• Sarah Bernhardt – famous theater actor
• Gustave Eiffel – French architect
• Louisa May Alcott – American novelist
• Claude Debussy – composer
• Susan B. Anthony – activist

Related articles

• Edgar Degas: Lord of the dance (independent.co.uk)
• The Foreign and the Familiar (shoreacres.wordpress.com)

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2. The concierge walks you through an overview of the center, sharing with you the idea that the center is there to provide a hub of “direction and connection,” The direction is all about helping you get a profile on LinkedIn or a Twitter or Facebook account set up . . . or all three. The connection is all about connecting you to ongoing networking groups where like-focused people are ready, willing and able to help you with connecting around new product and service creations. Additionally, there are many coaching services you can choose from to help you either move through a career transition or create a new company.
3. You fill out a profile for the center with answers to a series of questions around the current needs you have for innovating the way you do business or how your are developing your career–business development, career management, networking, coaching support, resource provider selection–these are all services offered by the center.
4. You pick the combination of services you need currenty and also check off those offerings you might consider for the future based on your budget.
5. You also are given a directory of upcoming events in the center that will enable you to meet other potential partners with whom you can collaborate with for business or career growth.

This is just the first experience you will have in the center. You will find it will be a place you will come back to again and again. You will find that you now have a choice for a place to go that is not as loud as a Starbucks and offers facilitated connection and though leadership to help you with your business or career.

Stay tuned for more adventures in The Networlding Center for Innovation and Collaboration.

I may not have the “Perfect Solution” for you, but after more than 20 years in business and authoring 11 books (four that have been on best-seller lists) on business development, marketing, networking productivity and leadership, I can offer tools, tips, strategies and networking support for many. Would you like to be included?

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Alcott was born on November 29, 1832, in Germantown (now part of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) to noted transcendentalists, Amos Bronson Alcott and Abigail May. Louisa May Alcott’s grandfather was the prominent abolitionist, Samuel Joseph May.

When Alott was still a young girl, the family moved to Boston where her father and Henry David Thoreau started the Transcendentalist Club. Early members included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller and Theodore Parker. Later in the movement, authors Emily Dickinson and Nathaniel Hawthorne joined.

Transcendentalism was a movement to change literature, religion, culture, and philosophy that emerged in the Boston area in the mid-1800’s and later spread. Transcendentalists believed in an ideal spiritual state that ‘transcended’ the physical being. This state could only be realized through intuition rather than taught by religions.

As a young child, Alcott spent her time writing, acting out plays and taking nature walks with family friend Henry David Thoreau.

As Alcott grew, she became more and more involved in feminism and abolition. The Alcott house became a safe haven for fugitive slaves escaping the ternary of southern slave owners. At the time, Alcott was also reading material published by Seneca Falls Convention who published “Declaration of Sentiments,” a piece on women’s rights.

Due to family poverty, fifteen-year-old Alcott started to work as a teacher, seamstress, and domestic helper; however, she always used her free time to write. Her first book, published in 1854, was written for Ellen Emerson, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s daughter.

In 1962, Alcott headed to Washington D.C. to serve as a Civil War Nurse. Like many nurses at the time, she contracted typhoid fever and became ill. She was treated with the popular drug calomel, a drug laden with mercury. Instead of dying of typhoid, Alcott received a toxic dose of mercury, and she would suffer the effects of mercury poisoning the rest of her life.

At this time, Alcott began writing observations and humor pieces for Atlantic Monthly and the Commonwealth. She also published a few “blood and thunder tales,” stories about passion, revenge and punishment under the Nome deplume A.M. Barnard.

Alcott continued to publish wholesome moral tales for children until her publisher, Thomas Niles, prompted her to write a “girl’s story”. Alcott turned to the most predominate influence in her life- her family. She wrote feverously for two and a half months about characters loosely based on her sisters. The result was her most famous book, “Little Women”.

The book was an immediate success and helped to eliminate the family’s financial problems.
After several more successful books, Alcott and her younger sister, May, toured Europe.

Like Marie Cassatt, who Alcott may have traveled with in Europe, Alcott became active in the women’s suffrage movement. Upon returning home, Alcott starting writing for “The Woman’s Journal”. She joined Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B Anthony and other advocates in traveling door-to-door encouraging women to register to vote.

In 1879, Alcott became the first woman in Concord to register to vote. Unfortunately, it took another thirty years to amend the constitution. In 1920, the 19th Amendment was passed, and women were finally granted equal voting rights.

Sadly, Alcott did not live to see that day. In March 6, 1888, two days after her father’s death, Alcott’s long battle with mercury poisoning complications ended in her Boston home. She was 56 years old, and although she never married, she left a legacy of books and her mark on both abolitionism and feminism.

The next great networker is the lead singer for a hugely successful rock band. However, these days he is most recognized for his tremendous generosity and triumphs as a humanitarian.

Born Paul David Hewson on May 10, 1960, we know him as Bono, the leader signer for the Irish rock band U2. Bono was raised on the north side of Dublin by his parents, Brendan Robert Hewson and Iris Rankin Hewson. Bono’s mother died at her father’s funeral when Bono was only 14.

Bono quickly started hanging out with a group of boys who called themselves “Lypton Village”. It was a common practice among the group to dole out nicknames, and it was then that Bono received his famous nickname.

Bono comes from a local hearing aid store called “BonoVox” and was bestowed upon Paul because it was said he sang so loud that deaf people cold hear him. Bono hated the name, until he was told that it was Latin for “good voice”.

In 1976, Bono and Dave Evans (The Edge) responded to an advertisement to form a rock band listed by fellow student Larry Mullen, Jr. The three joined Adam Clayton to eventually form U2.

The band went out to enjoy unparalleled international success. U2 had sold 50.5 million albums in the US and 170 million worldwide. In additional to multiple accolades in the music industry, they won 22 Grammys – more than any other recording artist.

While with U2, Bono collaborated and co-wrote songs with several legendary recording artists including Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Luciano Pavarotti, Sinéad O’Connor, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, and BB King.

On August 2, 1982, Bono married his longtime girlfriend Alison Stewart. The couple now have four children.

Bono lent his voice to the 1984 Band Aid single “Do They Know it’s Christmas/ Feed the World.” In a 1986, “Rolling Stone” interview Bono expressed a desire to become more involved in social and political causes. Later that same year, he led U2 to team up with Sting to perform on Amnesty’s Conspiracy of Hope Tour.

Bono performed at both the Live Aid concert in 1985, a concert to bring awareness to the famine in Ethiopia, and the Live 8 concert in 2005, a series of benefit concerts to end world poverty.

Since 1999, Bono had dedicated himself to campaign to end third-world debt, briefly meeting with Pope John Paul. In March of 2002, Bono had a private meeting with George W. Bush to discuss the recently unveiled $5 billion aid package. In May of the same year, Bono traveled with U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul H. O’Neill on a four-country tour of Africa.

Later that year Bono set up DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa) to bring about awareness to Africa’s debts, the Aids epidemic, and the country’s unfair trade laws that hurt many of its own citizens.

Bono also teamed with Canada’s Prime Minister, Paul Martin, speaking at his inauguration. Working together, they hope to increase Canada’s contribution to ending world poverty.

In 2005, Bono and his wife, Ali, partnered with designer Rogan Gregory to launch a socially conscious line. The goal was to shift from aid to boosting third-world economies by trading.

In December of the same year, Bono tied with friends Bill and Melinda Gates to share the title “Time Magazine’s Person of the Year”. Although Bill and Melinda both admit they were initially apprehensive about befriending a rock star, they now consider Bono a friend and formidable force against world poverty.

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Bono’s philanthropic plight against hunger and poverty has never wavered. Just this year, Bono and Bobby Shriver have partnered with Oprah and American Express, Apple Computer, Converse, Motorola, The Gap and Giorgio Armani to launch the (red) campaign. Each company has created products with the Product Red logo and a percentage of the profits from the sale of these labeled products go to the Global Fund.

The good Bono has done with his celebrity has out-shined and overwhelmed his own celebrity. We can be assured that Bono’s network will grow to include more and more people who share his values. Bono has afforded everyone in his network the opportunity to make a difference and to reach out to people in their network to bring about global changes.

Oprah’s life began very modestly in Kosciusko, Mississippi, where she was born to unwed teenagers. Born Orpah Gail Winfrey after a figure in the Book of Ruth, the spelling of her name was changed to clarify the difficult pronunciation.

Bounced back and forth between her mother and grandmother, Oprah was eventually sent to weather her teenage years with her father, Vernon, in Nashville, Tennessee. Vernon was a strict father and made Oprah’s education a priority. By the time she graduated, she was an honors student and had won an oratory contest securing her a full scholarship to Tennessee State University.

While at University, Oprah took her first steps toward becoming Oprah.

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She began working at a local radio station and then as a news anchor at Nashville’s WLAC-TV.
In 1978, she was recruited to join Richard Sher at Baltimore’s WJZ-TV co-hosting the show “People Are Talking.”

In 1983, Oprah relocated to Chicago to host the morning talk show “AM Chicago”. Within months, her ratings had surpassed Donahue’s. The name of the show was then changed to the now infamous “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

At the urging of her friend Roger Ebert, Oprah signed a syndication deal with King World. Oprah did not reveal this information until her 20-year celebration show.

On September 8, 1986, The Oprah Winfrey Show began national syndication. The show has been wildly successful and has served to promote and propel, in some cases, the success of others.

Thousands of people have been guests on the show, including more than 850 celebrities. Oprah has had the opportunity to interview three presidents, four first ladies, and a host of royalty. Oprah sat down with both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to ask the personal questions the country was dying to know.

Starting in 1985, Oprah expanded her experience to include acting in film. That year she worked with acclaimed director Steven Spielberg in the movie adaptation of “The Color Purple.” Oprah was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance. In 2005, Oprah produced the theater version, stopping by David Letterman’s to promote the opening.

In addition to her film credits Oprah also has two magazines and her own book club. When Oprah chooses a book, it is immediately on the bestseller list.

Oprah also used her influential powers to promote her friend, Dr. Phil. She met Dr. Phil when she hired his company, Courtroom Science, to analyze a jury. Oprah was so impressed that she asked Dr. Phil on the show several times before helping him launch his own talk show.

Oprah was able to do the same for Food Network favorite Rachael Ray. Oprah developed and now produces “Rachael Ray” – a one-hour talk show about food and fun.

In addition to her success as a talk show host, writer, producer, and actor, Oprah is a tremendous philanthropist. Business Week even put her on their top 50 most generous people list.

Not only has she given thousands of gifts away to guests and audience members, but she also started the Angels Network where people donate money, and it is given to charities. Oprah herself pays for the administration cost. In 2004, Oprah and Tom Cruise paired up to host the Nobel Peace Prize Concert.
More recently, she has teamed up with Bono in his (red) campaign. Along with several other celebrities and major corporations, Oprah and Bono are working to eliminate HIV in Africa.

Oprah no doubt has an extensive network but she also maintains a tight knit inner circle. Two of the people closes to Oprah are her partner Stedman Graham and her best friend Gayle King.

Oprah’s good friend John Travolta summed it up perfectly in his toast to Oprah on her 50th birthday celebration:

“To the most wonderful person in the world—Oprah Winfrey. Our friend. It’s not just because you went out of your way to make sure that 50,000 underprivileged children in South Africa had their first Christmas gift, or that you want to put schools throughout that country, but also because you inject the spirit of life into our society. You care, you’re intelligent, you’re inspirational, and you do it all without judging. You treat everyone as equally important. This makes you a great American hero. You represent the best of our country and what’s possible in our country. But more importantly, you are a citizen of the world, and you are a hero to mankind. So, we are better for knowing you, Oprah. We are. To boot, you are beautiful, you are sexy, you are talented, and we love you so much, we can’t take it. Here’s to Oprah!”

Of course, Oprah has many more friends in her network than could possibly be examined in this post, but here are a list of some of the movers and shakers Oprah has in her extended network.
Sarah Jessica Parker, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Aniston, Billy Crystal, Hilary Clinton, Tom Hanks, Dr. Maya Angelou.

There’s no doubt that Marco Polo was a courageous and brave explorer, but history should not overlook his abilities and power as a networker. Marco Polo’s networking skills prepared us for modern globalization. Practices and products he brought back from China were integrated into the European lifestyle even within Marco’s lifetime.

Marco Polo was born September 15, 1254 into a family of merchants turned explorers. Both his father and uncle had traveled to China before his birth.

Raised in Venice, Marco saw little of his traveling father until he was fifteen. In 1271, when Marco was 17, he was allowed to accompany his father on the Silk road to what was then called Cathay, modern-day China.

Marco Polo would spend the next 24 years of his life traveling and gaining exposure to new cultures.
Upon arriving in China, Marco Polo was brought before Kublai Kahn, the ruling emperor.
Kahn was quite taken with Marco and invited the travelers to stay. Due in large part to his linguistic abilities, young Marco quickly became a favorite in the court.

Soon, Kahn appointed Marco to a high position in his administration, where he served for some twenty plus years. Not only did he serve in China, but he was also sent on many missions to Bermuda, Persia, and India. Although he traveled widely while an ambassador for Kahn, Marco spent much of his time in current day Beijing in the Emperor’s magnificent palace. Marco had a keen eye and remembered the minute details of his travels and his life in China.

Marco’s descriptions of Kahn’s lavish court would later inspire the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge to write his famous poem about Kublai Khan’s “stately pleasure-dome” in Xanadu (or Shang-du).
As Kahn grew older and the end of his life drew near, Marco Polo, his father, and his uncle grew fearful that the next dynasty would not treat them as well. Kahn agreed to let them leave the court, but he asked one last favor. Marco was to escort the Mongol princess Kokachin to Persia to marry the Persian prince, Arghun.

After a long trip, the Polo’s finally returned to Europe empowered with new knowledge. Marco shared his discoveries with his comtempories, nobles, and even Pope Innocent V.
Among the items and new ideas Marco Polo brought from the East were: paper money, coal, the Imperial post, ice cream, eye glasses, and a complex yet more efficient communication system.

Marco spent three years at home until the city of Genoa raged war on Venice. Marco commanded a galley against Genoa. He was unfortunately captured and spent a year in a Genoses prison. While in prison, he met Romance writer Rustichello of Pisa.

At Rustichello’s urging, Marco dictated the story of his travels in great detail. Once both men were released, Rustichello released the book to the public. It became a wild success, which is quite an achievement given that printing was virtually unknown in Europe.

The book became one of the most popular books in medieval Europe, and the impact of his book on the contemporary Europe was tremendous. The book was titled Il Milione (The Million); however, it was dubbed “The Million Lies,” because people were unwilling to except that a man could make such a journey.
In the summer of 1299, after peace was achieved with Genoa, Marco was released, and he returned home to Venice. He married Donata Badoer and had three daughters with her: Fantina, Bellela and Moreta. All of them later married into noble families.

His ability to network lies within his ability to influence people and tell his story. Marco Polo may have been a great linguist, but, above that, he was a great communicator. He was about to make foreign-even alien-things accessible for different cultures. A great explorer could discover paper money, but a great networker can put that information into the right hands to see discoveries implemented.

After returning home to Venice Marco never left again. In 1324 at the age of 70, Marco Polo left his famous epitaph for the world: “I have only told the half of what I saw!” He died shortly after.

Marco’s most famous connection was Kublai Kahn, but who else was in his network? Here are some of the influential people who were most likely in Marco’s primary circle at various times in his life:
Edward I – King of England
Chagatai Khan – Ruler of Central Asia
Pope Gregory X – Catholic Pope
Thomas Wykes – English chronicler
Marguerite of France – Second Queen consort of King Edward I of England

Keep checking back as we examine the networking skills of such greats as Oprah, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Sanger, Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King and more . . .

Marco Polo sailing to China