Business or Career Networking is Based on Relationships Trust and Influence My definition of networking is: “leveraging trust and influence.” It takes a long time to make an old friend! Trust and influence are cultivated over time and are based on experience with the friend’s past performance. Sometimes difficult challenges help you find out who your real friends are! […]
How to Use Parkinson’s Law to Your Advantage The 30 Day Blogging Challenge has reminded me of Parkinson’s Law, “Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.” I have been extremely busy lately, and yet I really want to blog daily. My “To Do List” runneth over, and I am faced with time […]
What is Really Important? “First Things First” One of the most valuable books I have ever read is Stephen Covey’s First Things First. I try to remember and remind myself frequently of the profound concepts in that book, which is a follow-up to Covey’s famous game changer, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Important vs. […]
“Time Management” Puts Us in Control of Our Life It is not too late for “New Year’s Resolutions”! Today is the FIRST day of the rest of our lives. We all have 24 hours per day. We have free will to choose what to do with those hours. What will you make of your life? […]
80 to 90 % is Just Showing Up Woody Allen has been quoted as saying that 80 to 90 % of success is due to “just showing up.” Apparently this quote is controversial, as I found out when I searched for it. Some people think that “just showing up” is not to be applauded. They […]
Opportunity Cost Choosing one path has kept us from another. The difference is called “Opportunity Cost.” As we reflect on our past, we may say, “Gee, I’m glad I did!” or “Gee, I wish I had…” John Greenleaf Whittier wrote, “For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are those “It might have been”. Choices […]
Information overload and overwhelm are two terms that have become active in my vocabulary in the 21st century. On the web, you can find out more than you ever wanted to know about anything and everything. I feel like I am almost drowning in the quicksand of information overload! The most refreshing advice I have read lately was in an encouraging articlein Harvard Business Review by Michael Schrage, a research fellow at MIT Sloan School’s Center for Digital Business, called, “Tip for Getting More Organized: Don’t.” Michael says, “When it comes to investing time, thought and effort into productively organizing oneself, less is more.” Basically, his advice is to use search instead of filing.
Interdependence versus Independence Interdependence is a concept that is so important, and so complex, that I have been putting off writing this post for quite awhile, because I wanted to do it justice. Independence, financial and […]
Leadership is about Leverage and Synergy. The leader has a vision and a mission, and he or she leverages the talents, the energy, and the resources of the followers to accomplish that mission. Leading from Behind Leadership involves synergy, i.e., the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. One of the fundamental roles of […]
Business Networking Whatever you need and don’t have, somebody else does have, whether it be knowledge, resources, ideas, skills, or contacts. Synergy is the main reason for networking. Of course, relationships, which are precious per se, are a very nice by-product of networking and collaboration. In an article on BrightHub.com entitled, “The Benefits and Challenges of Team Collaboration,” […]
Interdependent Relationships Relationships have values which are often greater than material possessions. Love, of course, is “the greatest of these” few things which endure. I hope we all remember how precious Love is, per se, aside from any practical fringe benefits. But I also want to point out the motivational power and the synergistic leverage […]
Sales and network marketing are related but different professions. Of course there are various hybrids and blends. But for this discussion let’s distinguish between these fields based on their fundamentals. Either profession can be practiced online or offline. I love the internet and the technological leverage. It reminds me of the leverage of networking, which […]
Leveraging Trust and Influence Business networking is about leveraging trust and influence and multiplying your sphere of influence by the influence of others. Attraction is a kind of influence. “Personal Branding,” perhaps synonymous with reputation, may help with attraction and personal direct sales. Sales and marketing have their place in free enterprise, but network marketing […]
Conversations about networking and business relationships often evoke the aphorism, “It’s not what you know that counts; it’s who you know.” I believe that both factors are obviously important, but the often overlooked fact is that what is even more important is how they feel about you.! The factors that really count include: what you know, […]
Leverage is the key to major success in any endeavor. There are many kinds of leverage. Leveraging “social capital” is my favorite! When you leverage relationships, we call it “networking.” You are actually leveraging trust and influence, as well as knowledge, resources, and contacts. It is similar to leveraging financial capital — like you do […]