Keep Your Friends Close
I'm having some unexpected downtime at the moment and, as usual, it's a mixed blessing. On one hand I'm conscious of the need to keep the home fires burning by moving onto my next engagement as quickly as possible, on the other, it is a welcome opportunity to catch up on some of those important non-urgent tasks that we all tend to postpone in the midst of a hectic project or assignment.
While thinking about the first of these issues, it occurred to me just how much I depend on my personal and professional networks for assignments: pretty much all of my work is either repeat business or comes by way of referral. However, networking for me isn't just about my next job, it also provides a way to maintain my professional development, exchange information and ideas with colleagues, maintain contact and friendships with people all over the world, develop new and mutually beneficial relationships and good, old fashion friendship. Clearly, networking is an essential tool for me and my business and I started to wonder if I do it well.
Enter one of those important non-urgent tasks: reading! I read a lot, particularly between assignments. However, I'm embarrassed to admit that, when I am working my reading activity diminishes and the pile of books waiting to be read grows at an alarming rate. One book that has been waiting for my attention recently is Steven D'Souza's, brilliant Networking: What the best networkers know, do and say. Usually I'm a bit leery of self-help books, but this one is a gem! Don't get me wrong, there is no eureka moment here and this is not a panacea for forsaken contact lists, but it does do what all good self-help books should do: it does your thinking for you.
D'Souza structures the concept of networking in a logical, easy to follow format covering the why, how, where and when of building a rewarding network and there are plenty of practical tips to help you avoid some of the common networking blunders and indiscretions. Moreover, this is not a tough read; five or six hours should be enough time to consume the contents of this book for all but the slowest of readers.
Two things are clear from this book; networking requires effort and persistence to perfect and it is as much about giving as taking. Having read this book, I would assess my own efforts as "OK, could do better"!
brilliant Networking: What the best networkers know, do and say (Steven D'Souza, 2008) is published by Pearson Prentice Hall.
Amazon
Waterstone's
Play.com
Pearson Education
While thinking about the first of these issues, it occurred to me just how much I depend on my personal and professional networks for assignments: pretty much all of my work is either repeat business or comes by way of referral. However, networking for me isn't just about my next job, it also provides a way to maintain my professional development, exchange information and ideas with colleagues, maintain contact and friendships with people all over the world, develop new and mutually beneficial relationships and good, old fashion friendship. Clearly, networking is an essential tool for me and my business and I started to wonder if I do it well.
Enter one of those important non-urgent tasks: reading! I read a lot, particularly between assignments. However, I'm embarrassed to admit that, when I am working my reading activity diminishes and the pile of books waiting to be read grows at an alarming rate. One book that has been waiting for my attention recently is Steven D'Souza's, brilliant Networking: What the best networkers know, do and say. Usually I'm a bit leery of self-help books, but this one is a gem! Don't get me wrong, there is no eureka moment here and this is not a panacea for forsaken contact lists, but it does do what all good self-help books should do: it does your thinking for you.
D'Souza structures the concept of networking in a logical, easy to follow format covering the why, how, where and when of building a rewarding network and there are plenty of practical tips to help you avoid some of the common networking blunders and indiscretions. Moreover, this is not a tough read; five or six hours should be enough time to consume the contents of this book for all but the slowest of readers.
Two things are clear from this book; networking requires effort and persistence to perfect and it is as much about giving as taking. Having read this book, I would assess my own efforts as "OK, could do better"!
brilliant Networking: What the best networkers know, do and say (Steven D'Souza, 2008) is published by Pearson Prentice Hall.
Amazon
Waterstone's
Play.com
Pearson Education
Labels: Networking
posted by John Dexter at
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