This post originally appeared in The National Networker on August 16, 2009 and is reprinted here with their permission.
Universal Guide to Networking with Terry Bean
As a networker, we have to BE a lot of things: professional, credible, responsible, accountable, aware and most importantly, givers. That’s a lot of roles to play considering most of us balance this with our day job.
How does one do all this and succeed in their business?
The answer is two-fold. First, the above list contains a lot of characteristics that successful business people possess. In fact, with the exception of “aware” and “givers”, that list is like a minimum to do business today. Do your skills match those listed? Do you see improvement areas for you or your colleagues? Life is about continuous improvement. It’s never too late to learn.
The second piece is a little deeper. Are you familiar with Landmark Forum? Graduates of their program put together the wonderful movie, “Pay It Forward” (if you haven’t seen it, please do. It may change how you network and how you live”. While I personally have not experienced the forum, I know a few folks who have. This is not a post about them, but about one of the ideas they share.
Most of us go through life with the belief that states “if I only could have this, I would be able to do X then I would be happy (or whatever we want to be)”. The forum suggests that this is backwards thinking. That we in fact need to focus on BEing whatever we are meant (or choose) to BE. And if we are BEing what we are supposed to BE we will do the things we need to do to BE as such. These actions will lead to having what we seek out of life.
Pretty interesting stuff, no? Please share your experience below.
In the meantime I encourage you to BE a better networker and the best business person you can BE.
