Coach's Corner
Ask us your questions and we'll post them in the Coach's Corner. You can email your questions to .
Question:
I hate networking. Why is it deemed important?
Answer
Networking has gotten a bad reputation as being nothing more than going to business meetings and handing out business cards hoping for some miracle in connection and business. Networking is critical for leaders in building allies, partners, colleagues, external mentors and others in a mutual and reciprocal relationship. This means picking those you might want to network with carefully. I often hear leaders say they don’t have a solid reason to meet someone, have an expectation that they will get immediate results, or don’t see the return on investment for building a relationship. Networking is a longer term investment important in career moves, seeking advice, sharing experiences, seeking business, or support for an internal project or program. You start a networking conversation simply by stating that you’d like to build a stronger relationship. Think of 3-5 questions you might ask, such as: What is your background and experience? Have you ever confronted a problem such as __________ (fill in the blank) and what did you do to solve it? How might we partner together? Share your background and discuss ways that you might learn from each other. Then set time periodically to check in with the person to stay in touch.