Networking

Apparently someone accessed my Google account from the USA on 22nd September and I have been advised to change my password. Nice of Google to tell me with such urgency!  Anyway I should be thankful after all they are hosting my blog. Talking of blogs this is the second entry of the Advance Guardess and today it is all about networking.

Conventional wisdom is that the key to business success is networking. Now, as was pointed out to me at the networking training day I attended (yes you can be taught to network), networking is not pitching or even begging for work. It is about exchanging information in the vague hope (shouldn't really use the word vague but that is how it feels at the moment) that at some future point in time a little light will go on in the head of the person you once exchanged business cards with over a all English breakfast (apparently just tea or coffee won't do it, which is a big downer for me as I do not have the metabolic capacity to network over breakfast 3-4 times a week!) and they will remember you at an opportune moment. Presumably when someone else is talking about the sort of work you do. I have been promised that it does work and thousands of entrepreneurs swear by it.

My first attempt at serious networking took place last Tuesday with an organisation called 4Networking - fried veggie sausages, fried mushrooms, hash browns and toast (far too many calories I felt). I actually really enjoyed it - the networking not the breakfast.  For the first time in a long while, I started to feel like working for me could actually work. And despite taking the plunge, I confess I have my doubts – I spend more time in headless chicken mode, than Dragon's Den, entrepreneur mode.  Self employment is such a radical change. A friend put it succinctly. I'm used to earning money and I have to make the shift into making money. So much of what I do is about process rather than production. It all contributes to the business, but when you are doing your paper work or networking no one is paying you! To make matters worse, you have to spend money all the time you are not making money.

So back to networking. The biggest danger is getting stuck with the really boring people who just wants to drone on about their stuff and don't give you a chance to talk about what you do. Half an hour with one of these = missed opportunity to speak to 3 maybe even 4 really focused, concise, potential contacts.  It's my own fault. I'm usually very good at side stepping these types of people. I can recognise them by the desperate look in their eyes, the way they make a bee line for you because everyone else is avoiding them (previous victims). They are always the first person to speak to you and if you don't get away in time, they eat you alive. Those who have escaped look on in deep pity with eyes that say you could have been talking to me sucker! I’m going to call this type of person The Oblivious, because they ignore non verbal queues.

The other danger is people who see it as an opportunity to hit on you, in that sleazy way that older men do. The leery eyes, invading your personal space and spitting unwanted remains of their breakfast through foul smelling breath.  As yet, not been hit on by any sleazy older women. (Pretty sure they won’t have the bad breath) In case I've put you off, let me just say that everyone was really welcoming and I really shouldn't be so judgmental!

Another lesson worth sharing with you about networking is that there is quite a bit of it you can do for free.  So avoid paying to join groups for as long as possible. Shame no one told me this. I coughed up £200 to join and you still have to pay £10 a time for breakfast! And it's not optional !!

I think that is enough about networking for the time being. I remember that I was going to explain what my business does. This is good as I have to do my profile for the networking website, so I can kill two birds...

I am a leadership development coach for women aged 45-55: the '50 in the middle' group. For the slow, 50 is in the middle of 45 and 55.  It's not that I turn anyone away if they approach me for help, I just target my marketing and specialise in issues faced by this group. It's called a niche in the jargon.  So why this niche? Falling into the '50 in the middle' group myself I feel that I have quite a lot of expertise in this area. Why leadership - women create leaders, that what we do. I think it time the world had more women leaders to follow (very nice link to my company name if I say so myself - it's called Leaders to Follow in case you missed it - it was a very seamless tie in). I should say at this point that I am not referring to leadership in the traditional sense. Observing how leadership operated in the organisation I worked for and the many, many I had close dealings with, I came to the conclusion that rather than being vested in a few individual, real leadership is fluid. It's something that people at all levels in an organisation step in and out of as the situation dictates. If you create a fluid leadership culture people naturally take responsibility for what need to be done, resolving issue becomes more organic, communication more viral, it become a more supportive environment to work in and as a result the organisation become more effective. So how do you create a fluid leadership culture? By empowering people to believe in their capacity to lead. And how do you empower people to believe in their capacity to lead ... The answer is very simple, so simple it begs the question why don't more organisation do it?  YOU TREAT PEOPLE LIKE THEY MATTER. Really matter because they are people and how valued they feel affects them on a physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual level. Not rocket science.  If people feel good about themselves they perform better. Here's the eight ball - you have to treat people like they matter because they are people and people matter! NOT because it is profitable for your bottom line, not because of an ulterior motive of any sort. Simply because you value them as people. There is a different quality to the experience and people sense it. Check it out with yourself - can't you always tell if someone is smooching up to you just to get something?

Sure you can. And so can everyone else. So in addition to working with women individually I work with organisations to develop fluid leadership cultures. That's it in a nutshell.

Signing off now.