Do you remember ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon?’
Some movie buffs determined that in the 1990’s, actor Kevin Bacon was the true center of the cinematic universe. Any recognizable name in film or television could be linked within under six degrees separated (and in most cases no more than four) to working with Kevin Bacon.
This was the key. Kevin Bacon could not have possibly worked with every actor, living or dead. He just worked with so many people that they were very likely to have worked with another actor within the time frame of a few generations.
What does that have to do with anything?
You may not have the enigmatic pull of connection like Kevin Bacon (or Arnold Schwarzenegger, who you could find many connections in the cinematic universe as well). But you do have a greater sense of available connections than you may see past your first level connections on LinkedIn.
Do not underestimate the power of knowing a guy who knows a guy. It really is who you know that knows other prominent people that can help you get ahead.
Do you know a guy who knows a few other guys? Email me at jclevelandpayne@gmail.com, and we can see if we know the same guy.