Skip to main content

Network without networking

 Many of us have an aspersion to networking and networkers. As do I. Some years ago, in one of my conversations while taking over a new role, I was asked to network. Given my reluctance to network, I redefined it in my head. I redefined networking as "meeting for work" or "create work and a necessity to meet".

Networking (or the lack of it) continued to haunt me when I was working a consultant. Until I came upon the Giver/Taker/Matcher framework of Adam Grant.

The motto of networking is to network without networking. Or in other words, networking without expectation of anything. Or in other words, be a giver to your network and watch it grow. 

Over the last few months, I have given my time for coaching, brainstorming discussions, reading articles or CVs, connecting job seekers to companies (and vice versa), made a course for an educational institution, engaged on panel discussions with students, worked on organizing an event. And within the company, worked on projects, engaged with people, offered constructive suggestions, conducted workshops and the like. 

The giver framework makes it very simple - if something takes just a few mns, do it. And it is networking - though it is not networking per se. But this is networking without expecting anything - and yet these are bricks that go into building a network. Plus karma and paying it forward!

Network like you dont need the network and use the network to grow by giving during the times you dont need your network. And then magically, when you need something, your network will return it, many times over.  

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Be Civil. Make nice!

Popular posts from this blog

The man who saved Pumpelsdrop

This was a story we had in college if I am not mistaken. Perhaps it was in school, but a delightful story it was. The story goes somewhat like this ( reproduced from here ), but the college version we had was slightly different from this.  I t was a dull, gloomy and a depressing morning in a town named Pumpelsdrop in northern England. The Great Depression had brought all the businesses to a standstill. The bored automobile dealer was spending time alone, as usual. But, this seems to be an unusual morning as an odd entity (customer) appeared on the horizon. A man in a bright suit walks up to the dealer and says, "I need to buy a Rolls Royce Phantom II. We have a business conference coming up and I need to impress my customers". Then proceeds to pay 10% of the deal with a single check for 2000 pounds. The rest he says will pay when he takes the delivery.   The auto dealer was stunned. He was delighted to hear that someone is holding a business conference of some kind and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Most Powerful Idea in the World

The above titled book by William Rosen (and I am still reading it) has set me thinking. As it goes through the industrial revolution (rather, the beginning of it) - it explores as to why the industrial revolution happened when it happened. Rather, how a lot of factors came to play in making it happen. For that alone this book is worth a read. It is worth reading how a 'dotcom' kind of ecosystem existed in England with the combination of tinkerers, rich patrons, correspondence and of course, the right kind of institutions. When one studies engineering, or even science, what we hear are the rock star stories. For instance, we know that Archimedes had a 'Eureka' moment. Likewise, in this book, I realized how a 'Eureka' moment helped James Watt resolve the problematic steam engine into a workable design. While it is very romantic to believe that discoveries happen accidentally, the fact remains that somebody like a James Watt (or others) slogged through many man...
Post a Comment
Read more

Narendra Modi, Presentation Skills

This is the latest speech by Narendra Modi which was delivered yesterday at the India Today Conclave. Much analysis has been carried out on this speech, but here is a different perspective. I have written about Presentation skills - and to me this is a video that touches upon almost all aspects of presentation skills. For someone who wants to learn public speaking, presentation skills this speech is a great example. It is well worth your time, if you want to see presentation skills in action (and the bonus of a great speech). The speech is largely in Hindi, though there are parts in English as well.  Mr. Modi uses a video at the start (which is missing here) - so the speech uses other media as well - surprising the audience - since politicians arent generally given to videos. That initial video has made the audience look forward to more. The speech is extempore - which can only happen when one knows the subject thoroughly. I personally don't know how much Mr. Modi practices...
1 comment
Read more