Networking is often misunderstood as merely a transactional activity—collecting contacts without meaningful engagement. Yet, when executed with intention, it becomes a profound strategy for forging deep, lasting relationships that benefit both your personal and professional spheres.
Let’s take a look at how you can transform networking from a superficial task into a rewarding, enriching practice with a few simple, yet purposeful tweaks to how you approach your interactions.
1. Recognize Your Unique Contributions
Understanding your unique skills and experiences is crucial. This self-awareness not only boosts your confidence but also enhances your interactions, allowing you to offer real value in your connections. It’s not merely what you can gain, but what you can contribute that forms the foundation of a mutually enriching relationship.
2. Drive Conversations with Genuine Enthusiasm
Move beyond mundane small talk. Share your passions and inquire sincerely into the passions of others. This approach fosters deep connections and reveals opportunities for collaboration that go beyond the transactional.
3. Embrace Authenticity and Vulnerability
Authentic connections are rooted in vulnerability. Share not only your triumphs but also the challenges you've faced. This openness fosters trust and shows your commitment to genuine relationships, rather than superficial exchanges.
4. Personalize Your Follow-Ups
After meeting someone, personalize your follow-up communication by referencing specific details from your interaction. This shows attentiveness and respect for the relationship, reinforcing the connection you’ve begun to establish.
5. Maintain Consistent Engagement
True networking is an ongoing process. Keep in touch through regular updates, social media interactions, or personal meetings. Consistent engagement demonstrates your interest in the relationship’s growth and can lead to meaningful collaborations over time.
Here are key questions to ask in order to make a deeper connection right at the start of your engagement with someone new:
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What are you excited about in your business today? Is there something you have overcome that you are planning to celebrate?
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What is one challenge you are facing right now?
These two questions do a few things in your conversation. They engage the person with excitement and an ability to boast about their achievements, which sparks serotonin in the mind and gives you an immediate positive interaction with the person. So when you ask the challenge question, they are in a more positive head space to share their challenge with you.
Once you hear what their challenges are, it gives you an opportunity to determine if you have solutions for them or can support them through another connection, and start to build the ground work for your value exchange. It also gives you something to follow up with, points 4 and 5 above require context to make it easier for you.
These two questions create a framework for your conversation, and if they are conscious leaders too, they will ask you the same in return, so be prepared to answer them based on what your current focus is and how they may be able to support you.
Pro tip: When you add the new contact into your phone, make sure you use the notes section and jot down what you discussed. It will make the follow up process so much easier. Added bonus, snap a picture together and put that photo in their contact image so you remember where you met them and it will spark the conversation so much faster the next time you connect.
Relationships make your business grow faster, helps support your career growth, and levels of impact based on who you know and how you can mobilize them towards your goals. Most of all, they make you feel less alone on your journey, so cultivate them wisely. It is ok to be strategic about how you build your relationships, they accelerate your growth when you can find an equal value exchange between you and cultivate the relationship year over year. Avoid being transactional, and lean into being relational and see how much more enjoyable your growth path will be.
Ready to transform your networking skills into leadership excellence? My book, Lead with Value is your essential guide to cultivating leadership from within and empowering your team to do the same. Unlock the power of true connection and see how it revolutionizes your professional landscape. Grab your copy now and begin your journey to becoming a leader who not only adds value but also values others.