The core of real networking is an unflagging belief that people are ultimately the key to career success. No matter how smart you are, you can't do it alone. Knowing that, you always keep your net working antennae up. Successful or on the brink of personal bankruptcy, you're forever networking. It's a way of life.
The unwritten rule of great networking is reciprocity and unselfish sharing of information. Skilled net workers sincerely believe they'll be paid back in some way for a good turn. But accomplished net workers never have their hand out. Ironically, they seldom, if ever, even use the word networking. That's because they've woven the art of contact building into the fabric of their lives. Consider this offbeat example.
Meet Sally D., Virtuoso Net worker
Instinctive net worker Sally D. hangs out in my old Brooklyn neighborhood. Sally, by the way, is a man, short for Salvatore DeNunzio, Jr. But everyone calls him Sally D. Sally is a hustler and I don't mean that in a negative or, perish the thought, illegal sense. Sally buys and sells anything he can find, from auto parts or clothing to sporting goods and audio equipment.
Because Sally has such great contacts, he's able to buy merchandise directly from manufacturers or wholesalers and turn around and sell it at deep discounts to friends, friends of friends, or anyone else who happens to hear about him. Sally sells his wares from his house or garage. Beyond moving cheap merchandise, he is an incredible information source. The man knows everything that is happening within a 10-mile radius of his home. He can tell you about deals, closeout sales, cheap restaurants, and (yes) who's hiring and firing.
Sally attracts information like a magnet because he's trusted and respected. Tell him something in confidence and torture couldn't pry it from him. Ask him a favor and it's done immediately. Like all great net workers, he never asks anything in return. But in time, he's always paid back with favors, leads, new business, or valuable information. He's what world-class net worker Victor Lindquist, former director of Northwestern University's Placement Center, calls a "kingmaker." Sally sits at the hub of the information wheel. News starts with him and filters out to everyone else.
Sally D. is a humble, yet good example of a Class A net worker. Within every sector of society-politics, business, or academia-there are kingmaker net workers like him. The most powerful and influential have changed the course of history. Study, befriend, and emulate them. They're well positioned to help you.
The Only Networking Commandment You'll Ever Need
The basic tenet is everyone is reachable. Great net workers never say, "Forget about it; nobody can get to her." They'll never eliminate a potentially important contact because she's too powerful, aloof, famous, or rich. Real net workers are unstoppable. They're not intimidated by power, money, or resistance. They know everyone is reachable-from a Fortune 500 CEO to the President of the United States. If they're hell-bent on contacting someone, they'll find a way to do so. It may take 12 months, but they stick with it until they "get their man", as the saying goes. Their reasoning is sound. It goes something like this; "We're all in this game of life together to accomplish as much as possible. So give it your best shot and don't let anyone stand in your way".
CHECK OUT FORMAL NETWORKING GROUPS
Just as there are support groups for job hunters, so formal groups have been established for net workers. Some are excellent; others are little more than social clubs. If it's just a hodgepodge of job searchers from many fields and age groups all looking for contacts, leads, and information, why bother? For example, many YMCAs, YMHAs, churches, and synagogues offer freewheeling networking groups. Approach them with caution, expecting little. If you're lucky, you might make a valuable connection.
Check out more fruitful formal avenues that could open doors. Your local Forty Plus chapter, for example, may schedule meetings of professionals in your industry. Also, many organizations create planned networking opportunities. Engineering societies do this all the time.
Over the past half-decade, more and more colleges and universities have been offering alumni networking services. Although many of these groups are made up of younger alums, who's to say your school hasn't created a special group for older graduating classes? It's a chance to see old cronies and cement old relationships-or maybe build some new ones. What do you have to lose?
Many of the larger schools around the country offer sophisticated networking opportunities. Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, offers networking opportunities in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The American Graduate School of International Management, popularly known as Thunderbird, in Phoenix, AZ, presents a unique networking opportunity called "First Tuesday." On the first Tuesday of every month, 22,000 alums of Thunderbird, the largest graduate business school in the United States, meet to network at designated spots, usually favorite watering holes or restaurants, in every major city in the country.
Don't stop there. Put your investigator's hat on and look for nonprofit and government organizations that offer networking opportunities. Certainly, the local chamber of commerce may be able to help you. You also may be pleasantly surprised at what you'll find in the Yellow Pages under the general employment heading.
The Older Women's League, a national grassroots advocacy organization, dedicated to improving the status of women's lives, offers networking groups in some of its 80 chapters throughout the United States.
Finally, look at profit-making businesses that sell networking services. For example, Exec-U-Net, based in Norwalk, CT, has five locations throughout the country. Its 2000 members pay annual dues of $260 to receive an exclusive 20-page newsletter offering about 150 job leads. Executive Director David Opton swears the leads come from a number of exclusive sources, such as executive search firms. He insists that none of the jobs has been advertised and that 7 out of 10 executives who change jobs do so through net working opportunities. He's also biased because it's his company.
