I was really interested in reading the fresh perspective of networking from Susan D. Strayer, a HR Executive on Kladoblog.com. Susan shared how with closer friends, we call them typically to ‘catch up’ on what is happening in their lives, not to ‘get something’ from them. Typically the result is close friendships.

Similarly, networking relationships can stay in tact and grow closer as we call to ‘catch up’ on how they’re doing and not to ask anything from them. I am challenged from Susan to once a week call someone I don’t know that well to go out for lunch or coffee just to develop a relationship and see how I can help them out in simple ways. Periodically I’d like to see myself calling in order to catch up on what is going on in their life, again being ready to help out if I can. Vice versa, when the time comes I need something, maybe my phone call will be welcomed rather than dreaded.

I am a big believer in networking (building relationships) being all about giving. Susan’s perspective gave me impetus to start thinking how my networking could broaden in a more practical. My next step of action is to share this simple plan with my accountability partner and calendar it.

I am passionate about you enjoying Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon! If you’d like to schedule a 20-minute complimentary, confidential coaching session, email me at Terri@SummitViewCareerCoaching.com.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 at 7:16 pm and is filed under Job Search. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.