Driving to an appointment the other day I pondered - not for the first time - the huge number of business hours each week, each month, each year, going into what is called networking and wondering "Why isn't this working?"
And it dawned on me the similarity between these networking sessions and what happens behind closed doors with what we sometimes call lovemaking.
Here's the shocker.
Lots of people are clueless in bed too.
When it comes to networking, we can be like the erstwhile lover, screaming in silence "no - not that... do this..." but yet never say a word out loud to the one we are with... while the partner fumbles around, achieving little, save for creating frustration, irritation and perhaps regret.
Just like in sex, we can expect people to know what we want most, what we need for it to work out well and an interest in the interaction culminating in satisfaction for both parties.
People are terrible mindreaders.
Or like just a casual hook-up with someone whose name you'll never even remember or maybe cross the street to avoid if you see them later.
Networking, if it is to be successful needs both to be concerned about the outcomes for the other.
Not standing aloof waiting to be serviced.
Are you a considerate networker?
Successful networking should be about building relationship and sharing a mutual interest in getting good results for each other and those they refer for assistance.
Time to end the Wham-bam casual bumping into strangers.
What's your best strategy to encourage mutual gratification in networking?
Come on now. Networking. It's Business Time.
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