The professionals you have the most in common with may be your competition. They wrestle with similar problems and have similar goals.

And you can offer value by sharing what you’ve learned and what you know–and that value will often be reciprocated.

I met Tom Rielly when was running PlanetOut in the 1990s. About forty of AOL’s biggest software partners had been invited to a conference, and Tom hosted a small gathering for a dozen of us in his hotel suite. When we got there, he shared the most interesting parts of his contract with AOL. Many of us did the same. As a result, everyone in that room was able to get a better deal the next time around.

When the acting community shared information about predators in Hollywood, it created progress toward safety, helped apprehend some of the worst offenders, and built connection and trust.

Literary agents regularly talk with each other, and via the living database at Publisher’s Lunch, share insights about genres, editors and authors.

NFL coaching staff, who you would think of as quite competitive, often talk to one another about players, policies, and personnel.

Chefs welcome up-and-coming chefs into their kitchens and share their best suppliers, because a supplier without customers doesn’t stick around for long.

Creative Mornings has changed the lives of thousands of freelance creators, simply by giving them a useful way to connect.

Walmart doesn’t want its suppliers to talk with one another, which is a really good reason for them to do it. Comparing test questions in high school is called cheating. Doing it in real life is a smart way to reclaim power and agency.

The competition isn’t the competition. ‘None of the above’ is the competition. The powerful monopoly is the competition. Loneliness is the competition.

It might be that your industry doesn’t already have a vibrant association of peers. If it doesn’t, start one. There have never been more tools or more upside for doing so.