Pravin Shekar
If you network, just for the sake of networking, the effect will be transient, ephemeral.
What is your motive to network?
Increase your contacts, create an awareness of you/your-service, link-and-sync?
Networking works best when done with a motive of “give more to get more”. What do I mean by this? Well, it’s very simple!
When you think about networking, you begin with I. What’s in it for me? How many people can I meet today? What will be my ROI?
All perfectly valid questions. But let’s turn this around.
How many people can I help today? How many connects can I provide? Who can I assist? How can I contribute? Notice that this set of questions still have an element of ‘I’, but more towards giving/contributing.
A favourite example of mine:
Imagine you are traveling down a road, late at night. You find a stranger stranded next to his punctured vehicle. You help out by giving him a lift to the nearest point of assistance, receive thanks and drive on. Now, the person who was the recipient of your timely benevolence may not be in a position to return the favour directly to you. However, he can certainly help another person in need. By “paying it forward”. This creates a positive chain of thought and deed.
Why should networking be any different?
As long as you continue to help others, there will be an invisible chain working towards helping you. This isn’t a spiritual/religious thought. Just plain and simple – positivity breeds positivity.
Give more to get more.
Pravin Shekar is the kreator-in-chief at Krea
