I have been silent for a while and was wondering what to
blog about. I started on a post only to switch gears to talk about…. networking.
Since of late I have been attending a lot of self awareness and entrepreneurial
workshops. One of the workshops was on self branding and networking. As I sat
eager to absorb all what was in store, I looked around the room, observing
everyone’s reaction to the speaker. About half the room was wide eyed and bushy
tailed, the other half nervously shifted, looking around the floor and at
everyone but the speaker. The information was an easy digest for those wide
eyed bushy tailed folks, but quite extreme for the other half. I heard one say “I am
not in sales, it’s just not for me”. Hmm, don’t we sell something at some
point in our illustrious lives? Didn’t we all have to sell chocolates or raffle
tickets for our school club or sports team? Didn’t we have to sell our parents
on the latest video game, toy, gear or social event we ABSOLUTELY needed? For
those of us parents, haven’t we sold our kids on programs, books and lessons
that were CRITICAL to their development and growth? “It’ll be lots of fun”
I’d say making sure my tone and excitement matched the desired outcome. I
digress….. back to NETWORKING.
First what is networking? It’s building and maintaining
relationships. It’s making new friends and keeping the “old” ones. Networking
is vital to starting and maintaining a business, to gaining satisfactory
employment and contributing to your community and society. It started in kindergarten and that we do it everyday without us even realizing
it. My hope is that we recognize it, do it with intent, be authentic and
don’t focus on getting but also giving in return. The bolded words need
the most focus. Focus on the giving and it will be a pleasure to network, any
time and anywhere. Be authentic and it will feel smooth as butter. So, here’s
what we ALL learned in kindergarten that will help us network and be better relationship
builders!
- Ask your friends if they want to play. Then ask your friends to bring their friends to play next time. Soon you will be playing with your newly found friends and all you had to do was just be introduced. Haven’t we done that playing in the sandbox? You invite your good friend Jenny, then she invites her friend Sammy and soon you and Sammy are hanging out. The same goes with relationships today. Connect with your friendly circle, who will then introduce you to their friendly circle and before you know it you have a bigger friendly circle to play with.
- Share your toys! Sharing is caring and it’s never fun to play alone. You have talents, stories, ideas, skills, experiences and passion, which are your grown-up toys. Share them and share them willingly with people. You never know when you will be called upon to share them. Your passion and willingness are key! Share them grudgingly and my guess is that you will be enjoying your toys all by yourself. Share them willingly and passionately and you will be sharing a whole lot!
- Ask questions! We stopped asking loads of questions somewhere between kindergarten and high school, not sure why. Go back to kindergarten and be child-like in your questioning. Ask them what they do, what they like about it and what they don’t. Ask them what “toys” they have and share with them the “toys” you have. Didn’t we all do that? “I have a school house with a bell on it at home we can play with, what do you have?”
- Be nice! Be yourself and Smile! Yes that’s 3 bullets wrapped into one.
As I end this know that I am smiling. I am myself and dare I
say most times I am NICE! Happy networking all!
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