Regardless of what role you’re playing, odds are that if you’re successful, it is in part because of your relationship building abilities. This includes both being able to nurture great cooperative relationships and to find them in the first place. I challenge you to find one successful person who operates completely alone.
It is in our nature to seek stability – a predictable, organized life that allows us to cope and order our purposes. This is the reason we like predictable schedules, like to plan our days, and sometimes resist change. These are the people that enjoy planning their vacation so there are no surprises, or making sure their meetings are planned so they can prepare. It’s all normal and human. Yet, there are some among us who enjoy operating in an unpredictable world that is ever changing, even enjoying the ambiguity and the unknown. These people are journeying towards discovering something that drives them and they actually will resist too much certainty. These folks just schedule a flight to an island and show up to explore on their own, taking what comes. They have the ability to cold-call, invite a stranger to lunch or just show up to a meeting. They have a certain comfort level in creating relationships and using them as part of their journey. Both types are critically important, because without order there is chaos and without chaos there is no discovery. It’s a symbiotic relationship.
If you look around our organizations and institutions, you will note that they are all very well organized, stabilized and are always seeking to eliminate surprises. This is good when you have nothing new to discover. But, even if you look at the successful people in these stable organizations, they are the ones who discover, nurture and mine relationships. They are the innovators and are rewarded with success.
Networking is the practice of discovering new relationships. Period. It’s not about finding people to sell to or building a rolodex for you to call on. It is to reach into the world, connect, make friends, find new information and offer support and kindness. Through this very human and simple perspective, success will follow. Sometimes people try too hard to rationalize their networking activity, try to logically order their activities, their pitch or their methods. In reality, all they really have to do is fly to the island and make some friends. These new friends will show you where all the best restaurants are, beaches and local value that you would not otherwise know. Networking is part of the business journey that you can’t count on or be certain about. But, I will guarantee you, that if you practice it simply, purely and well, the value you get back is exponential.
In my next Blog, I will outline the AFFIRM model for networking.