From the course: The Ultimate Guide to Professional Networking

Why network?

From the course: The Ultimate Guide to Professional Networking

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Why network?

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- You might ask why do you need a network. You might like your job and you're willing to schmooze with the boss because well, he or she's your boss, but even that can be painful. And as for everyone else at work, well, you do it if you absolutely have to, but you don't ever want to be like those kiss ups who are so obvious about it. You don't have time to go to events. You barely have time to cook, call your mom, you're behind on sleep, I get it. But here's the thing. Creating a lifelong network is worth the effort. Trust me on this. Doing even a little networking can give you crucial resources that you'll need to sustain job moves, thrive throughout family changes and help navigate the many coming phases of life for decades. I want to give you three ways that you should look at this so that the upside really hits home. First, networking puts you into circumstances where magic can happen. You might not realize this, but many of the best things in life come from serendipity. You happen to meet a person you click with. They learn you do marketing. They happen to need a marketing person. Bam, you now have a client and you got that client from chance. These chance meetings don't happen in a vacuum. You have to get out there where the sparks of chance can ignite an idea, bring you into a new relationship and surprise you with new opportunities that you wouldn't have otherwise gotten. Secondly, even someone with a consummate and flourishing business keeps on networking. Do you know why? It's because they're always on the lookout for a catalyst. They know that the next big thing for them could be right around the corner. Finally, life is organic and ever changing. So this means that building a network should be organic and flexible and have as many roots and branches able to carry you through new jobs, career choices and big changes that come with making the leap from employee to self-employment if that's in your future. This means you need to act upon something that doesn't feel necessary now, in order to have the context to draw from later. Who are you going to call if your company folds or you get laid off or perhaps you come to the realization that you could earn double the money if you left your company, what then? Well, we all like to think of ourselves as being self-reliant. The reality is that we all need help navigating these inevitable life changes. The question is not whether they will happen, the only question is when. The time to build real relationships is not in the midst of change or crisis, that's too late. Your connections are like trees that grow over time. You need to start growing the roots now if you want to rely on them later and make no mistake, you will need them later. Begin the process now wherever you are and take the time to enjoy it. You'll find this new style of networking is much more pleasant and satisfying than what you may have been used to.

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