Networking for the sake of networking

Yesterday I asked few of our colleagues to attend a networking event.  I have asked them  to have their business cards ready to be able to share contact details and meet new young professionals.  Dress appropriately for the occasion and if necessary stand close to the buffet or the bar to meet more people.  

In networking events, we don't have to have the perfect elevator pitch prepared if we genuinely want to network successfully.  The idea is not to present ourselves to make sure the person we are talking to will be certainly interested in us, instead, be genuinely interested in the person we are talking to.  Listen and ask questions instead of pitching our CVs or credentials.  

As I told my colleagues, the truth is that the central idea is not to think of networking events as a tool to simply generate more business or achieve a career goal.  In fact, don't have any such expectations towards your network.  It should be all about networking for the sake of meeting new people and adding value to their lives.  Do favors, without expecting anything in return.  I found this to be quite successful in building a strong network.  Believe me; it will pay off in one way or another eventually, may it be regarding business or your private life. 

By the way, that's how I first met my business partner, many moons ago.  He was and still is an exceptional networker.  I remember when I met him, he offered to help in my previous venture without asking for anything in return.  I learned an important lesson from him:  Contacts you make because you listen to their story and support them without business in mind are the ones that will stick around.  

Ried Hoffman - the co-founder of LinkedIn once said,  "Keep in mind, your network is the people who want to help you, and you want to help them, and that's really powerful." 
 
I really believe, the opposite of networking is not working. So let's get to work.