Читать книгу Business Networking Simplified - Les Garnas - Страница 11

Mostly due to limited time and the pervasive popularity of the internet as a communications medium, people often discount the value of personal contact. Many believe that they simply don’t have the time, and in some cases people don’t want to expose themselves to scrutiny of others; they feel more comfortable pursuing arms-length relationships than face-to-face contact. The simple truth is that there is no substitute for face-to-face contact in networking. If you have avoided face-to-face networking, you need to examine your reasons. Perhaps you have an image of networking as pushy and manipulative: “too complicated,” “too much of a hard-core relentless pursuit.”

Perhaps one of the best ways to embrace face-face networking is to first understand what it is not. Think of someone you know who is considered a good networker, and make a mental note of what characteristics of that person’s style you would have trouble mimicking if you wanted to network like he does. My guess would be the attitudes and behaviors that might turn you off to networking would be misconceptions like these:

Some Misconceptions About Networking

Successful networkers are aggressive and pushy.

People who practice networking are usually manipulative.

Networkers are takers, not givers.

I’m not going to pretend that people don’t exist who exhibit some or all of the above characteristics. Some do. And perhaps your friend or acquaintance is one of them. However, I can relate to you most assuredly that highly aggressive users’ networking activities are usually restricted to a specific group of contacts who exhibit similar “user” characteristics. The code among this group is: “I’ll use you, then you use me. I’m keeping score so make sure you don’t ask, if you haven’t given back.” This intense approach works among this group of individuals because the rules, as you can see, are rigidly observed and enforced. However, they could never sustain this networking style in a broader, business-savvy community—where the give and take of interpersonal relationships is much less intense and more oriented to a relaxed collegiality, mutual caring and sincere interest in one another.

However, just like the intense form of give-and-take networking described above, there are simple rules that make networking between individuals and small groups of people sustainable and effective. The rules are:

Some Rules for Networking

Be prepared.

Be specific.

Follow through.

Keep working at it.

Now that’s not so hard, is it? Let’s explore them, one by one.