Never Ever Network Again!
Some words lose value when they are "verbed". Network is a great example of that. Your network is your array of connections gathered with intention and purpose. At its best, it is a powerful entity through which we can accomplish much together that would be impossible alone.
At is worst, it is the source of spam, unwanted sales calls, surface acquaintances who "elevator speech" you, trade business cards and
open the floodgates for canned sales pitches that have nothing or little to do with you, your intention or purpose. And when you choose to "opt out" from what you never really opted into, you are now the bad guy. This is what can happen to "network" when it is verbed!
I do not like to be "networked" any more than you do. The sense of being "worked" feels so insincere and shallow - like being talked at instead of talked to. And yet, the powerful and treasured
relationships throughout my life and career, have been born in my network. Through it, I am rich in the one thing that I value the most - deep, authentic and purpose-filled relationships.
The secret to building your rich network, is to never ever network again! Instead, from here on consider the verbed form of network to be "net worth"! And in your network, your net worth is measured in the currency of authentic relationships!
Authentic relationships are built through the art of authentically listening versus telling, "giving" versus "taking", serving versus looking to be served, enrolling versus selling, the joy of abundance versus the fear of scarcity.
No more elevator speeches! No more opening the conversations with the telling of your story! No more collecting the business cards of all you meet. The epidemic of these practices is resulting in the numbing of the possibilities of making real and powerful connection. Without real connection, the contact that you make will be of little to no value to you in your search for more success or the next job.
The real work of work and the power of networks is relationships!
People will go far out of their way to serve and support those that they care about and are in relationship with. Your challenge is to grow your "net-worth" by investing in creating these authentically through asking not what your network can do for you, but rather what you can do for your network. Your relationship currency is your most valuable asset in both good times and bad!
Join me in the SOAR for Success Series as I lead you through two powerful tools for growing your network "net-worth" in next week's Session #5.
