Your connections: Are you a collector or curator?

Collector or curator? There’s a big difference when it comes to building your network. Which are you?

A collector is someone who gathers, seeks out, and collects things. In this case it’s connections with others. Or even just business cards or names and contact information that he can add to his network. The point is to build the collection. Make it bigger. Maybe even more diverse. Not a bad thing.

A curator, on the other hand, is a keeper or caretaker of the collection. To me this implies a little more than merely gathering. There seems to be a little more thought, maybe more discernment, and definitely more of a long term interest beyond the collection process itself.  The results feel more valuable, more select. It feels more like an investment to be tended to with great care.

So which are you? Do you collect or curate as you meet people and decide whether they will be a part of your address book, database, network or tribe? How will you add to the collection? Will it be about quantity or quality? How will you care for your collection? How will you ensure that it becomes and remains the valuable investment you intended it to be?

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