I find that my senior finance executive clients seem to struggle with networking. Either they are so busy working in their jobs that they don’t have time or energy to devote to networking. Or, they are lulled into a false sense of security (I have a job) and therefore avoid what they don’t feel comfortable doing.
"Why You Should Be Networking" provides some valuable insight into the benefits of networking. A couple of my favorite snippets include …
“As an outplacement consultant, I see a lot of people who have lost their jobs because they haven’t networked,” Challenger says. “And the ones who find the best jobs are really wired. They’re a lot more successful than the people who have been more introverted.”
Since introverts tend to be listeners, they can actually be perceived as very good conversationalists because with a few well–worded questions they let the extroverts do all the talking!
“At this rate, your kids could grow up believing that unless other people are thinking about them—constantly!—they don’t really exist.”
This could well become the new definition of networking!