By Jim Bruckbauer
As professionals, we are experienced enough to know how important relationships are to everything we do. Not a lot of people will tell you that they’ve reached personal or professional goals all by themselves. Besides, many will tell you that reaching a goal is more fulfilling when there are other people around to share in your success.
- Remember that successful networking involves asking the question: “how can I help you reach your goals?”
- Be able to distinguish between genuine relationship-building from the business-card-exchange gimmicks that are usually associated with “networking.” There’s no single way to connect with everyone, since each person is unique and communicates differently.
- Look for mentors and become a mentor. Having someone who will invest time in your professional and personal goals is much more valuable than any monetary compensation. Returning the investment to someone else holds you accountable as a leader.
- Discover what’s interesting about yourself and run with it. You are interesting and others like you for it.
- Maintain relationships with everyone who’s important to you personally and professionally. Don’t just contact them when you need a favor.
- Never eat alone. Every time you eat a meal, you have an opportunity to connect with someone else, whether that is a co-worker or a future contact. This is from a book entitled Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi.
Decision makers of companies are making decisions that involve people and involve relationships. They will usually gravitate toward people they can trust, and building trust takes time. That’s why our company stresses the importance of building relationships with companies that may have emerging opportunities in the future, as opposed to companies that are very close to making the decisions we’re trying to predict. This can give your team the greatest opportunity to use Blocks to build relationships.
Our company tries to provide you with a foundation on which you can place your Blocks. Drop us a line and let us know how we’re doing: