So the other day my boss says to me, "I need to get a few pieces of wood cut to fix this desk". So he comes in the next day and tells me that he ran into a guy he knew who did carpentry work so he asked him to cut him the two pieces of wood that he needed. Then he follows up with "and I just hate begging for something". My reply to him was "that isn't begging, that is networking"!
This is my belief, that everyone you meet is someone you can network with in one way or another. Prove me wrong...I dare you. Make a list of all the people you know, yes those close to you, those you barely know, and those you may have only met once but you remember them enough to remember their face and name. Next to their names now write one aspect of that person that you know to be true. For instance Ms. Kathy, teacher. Now I may not know Ms. Kathy on the outside world and may have only met her once but I do know she is a teacher. Good enough. Now how can I use that information and apply it to networking. Well for one Ms. Kathy is someone I could go to if I needed some advice on a letter I was sending to dispute a bill. She could tell me if my grammar is correct so I don't come across as a total idiot! Now that is just a silly light hearted example. But if you took that example one step further and broke down what attributes a teacher carries then you may come up with a list of ways of networking with that one person.
So to expand on that thought...Ms. Kathy is a teacher, and she has 25 students per class and she has at least four classes a day so now Ms. Kathy is a lead into 100 other people that you may not know yet. So she has just gone from a person you barely know to a wealth of people you may possibly network with some day. You may have a conversation with her about a piece of your grandmothers furniture and she could put you in touch with the parent of one of her kids who restores furniture. Do you see?
Every person you meet is a thread of your network. So, get out that paper and pen and start your list! Just do it. Start in your household and then take each person next closest to you and go from there, be it neighbors, people you work with or what have you. You will be amazed at who is in your network.
Lastly, enlighten them to the network theory, pay it forward if you will and you will both be amazed. Challenge yourself to do this and before you know it you will have a list of people that will help you to eliminate all those "little projects" that sit around and wait for you to pay attention to them. Work is always accomplished faster when one doesn't have to face the task alone. So with that in mind I leave you. Perhaps to have a look at my networking list. Time to update it!
Peace to you.
