Welcome!
“Networking” seems to be the new
buzz word in business. Everyone’s talking about it,
and saying how important it is for your career, yet few people
seem confident with the concept, especially when it comes
to the “How to” of effective networking.
No one is taught about this Unwritten Rule
of Business at school, university or business school. In my
consulting work (I train people to “Master the Art Of
Networking”) I have personally observed that a person’s
ability to cultivate mutually beneficial business relationships,
ie networking, and develop a strong Personal Brand, are the
critical success factors of all the successful people I met.
Branding is the “why”
and Networking is the “method” of raising your
visibility in the marketplace.
There are many roadblocks that prevent business people from developing powerful networks:
1. “Networking is only about dull boring cocktail parties with a lot of self absorbed people”
Helen’s response: Cocktail parties comprise less than 5% of a good network. When you make the mindshift to seeing Networking as building mutually beneficial business relationships, you will then view most of your daily interactions as networking opportunities. There is a mistaken belief that when you’re doing all the talking you’re doing good networking, when in fact the good listeners are the best networkers, as they listen for where the mutual business synergy is.
2. “No time for networking”
Helens response: People say they don’t have time because they haven’t experienced the power of Networking and seen what a difference it can make in their careers.
Most of my clients in the corporate world eat lunch at their desk. If they used their lunchtime more strategically and invited people from other business units in their oganisation for a quick lunch once a week, they would find their internal network would expand dramatically.
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