I recently talked with a friend who thinks networking is a dirty word. To her it means being manipulative and phony.
I could see where she was coming from.
Maybe she’s been to one of those business card swapping contests, like the one I witnessed at my first (and last) breakfast meeting.
I described this type of networking meeting in a previous post. It’s where no one bothers to have a real conversation or even make eye contact.
Now that’s so not fun.
I think of networking as just getting to know people and build relationships. We can do this anywhere and at any time.
Take the other day when I visited my son’s primary school (or grade school if you’re in the US). I and other mothers had been invited to spend the day at school with our children so we could see what a typical day was like for them.
My son had just started school and he liked having me sit next to him in the classroom. And I enjoyed sharing his learning experiences. I also got to know his teachers a little.
And I got to hang out with the other mums (or moms). Oh, the interesting stories we shared.
Now that’s networking in my book and it was fun. No breathless pitches, no fast and furious card swapping there. Just getting to know other women in a relaxed environment. Works for me. I like to do business with people I know, like and trust. Don’t you?
And so I try to build genuine relationships wherever I go. This is how I see networking.
What do you think about networking? When and where do you network? Please share your thoughts here.
