Is Networking overrated in terms of looking for professional opportunities?
Exchanging business cards is networking Networking, NOTworking?
I am passionate about Networking.
They use to call it extroversion, then socialising, now it’s networking, or even social networking….
In the labour market you’ll need it both when you’re in a job and trying to find new opportunities.
It’s a very popular topic, especially in the Anglo-Saxon world.
Recently I earmarked an article "Good News for Young Strivers: Networking is overrated" by Adam Grant, an expert on the subject.
I filed it away as I normally do so that I could read it and think about it at a later stage.
It’s a pleasant change to hear dissenting voices, that don’t just focus on the downsides and come across as overly-critical. I like people who rise above the fads, the stereotypical statements and the customary practice and head straight to the heart of the matter.
Moreover, although I am passionate about networking, I’ve always thought of myself as being a little introverted and someone who is not so “brazen” to speak to everyone and anyone … I tend to be concise and take a no-nonsense approach to things!
I found the article very interesting and there are a few points I really want to share with you.
Don’t be a shark!
There are people who embark on networking without knowing the first thing about it, and are even impolite – I know that’s a slightly archaic term, but you get the picture!
I’ve seen people at conferences take the floor twice and speak about themselves rather than asking a question of general interest, queue up to lavish praise on a speaker only to then take up all their time to speak about themselves, or even ask for a speaker’s personal contact number in front of a group of people at a workshop.
This isn’t networking, it means being a “shark”. So if this is what you thought networking was and you don’t like it, I don’t blame you!
It’s reassuring to discover that Adam Grant has had similar experiences.
Not long ago, after interviewing a venture capitalist onstage, I announced to the audience that we would take questions but no pitches. The first person at the microphone asked the investor to fund his start-up. I cringed as the second person started to pitch, too. Our educational event had quickly turned into a bad episode of “Shark Tank.”
– Adam Grant
Don’t ask! Give.
Network is about giving, not asking.
Looking at this in concrete terms: if you have done interesting things in your own field, you should try to share this to create a network.
So when you are preparing to meet some people, it’s important to have something to say that will be of interest to them.
The "elevator pitch" is not about how good you are, but what you can do for the person you are reaching out to.
It’s true that networking can help you accomplish great things. But this obscures the opposite truth: Accomplishing great things helps you develop a network. ... Achievements don’t just help us make connections; they also help sustain those connections. Not long ago, I watched a colleague try to climb the ladder of success solely through networking. For a few years, he managed to meet increasingly influential people and introduce them to one another. Eventually it fell apart when they realized he didn’t have a meaningful connection with any of them. Networking alone leads to empty transactions, not rich relationships....
– Adam Grant
A bit of networking is beneficial especially in Italy where it is not extensively used
You need to be realistic. If you come from a good family you’re more likely to know interesting people or people who think highly of you.
I was on holiday once and I met a Young man whose father, I later discovered, was a well-known businessman. I hadn’t been very interested in him beforehand, but when I found out who his father was, I viewed him differently… We’re only human after all!
I don’t mean to suggest that success in any field is meritocratic. It’s dramatically easier to get credit for achievements and break into the elite if you’re male and white, your pedigree is full of fancy degrees and prestigious employers, you come from a family with wealth and connections, and you speak without a foreign accent. (Unless it’s a British accent, which has the uncanny ability to make you sound smart regardless of what words come out of your mouth.) But if you lack these status signals, it’s even more critical to produce a portfolio that proves your potential.
– Adam Grant
All excess is negative
How much self-promotion is a person engaging in? A little bit is OK but too much becomes tiresome even on the internet when you can change pages with single click. Do you really need all those posts highlighting conferences, seminars you have attended… SCROLL DOWN or Shut UP!
Of course, accomplishments can build your network only if other people are aware of them. You have to put your work out there. It shouldn’t be about promoting yourself, but about promoting your ideas. Evidence shows that tooting your own horn doesn’t help you get a job offer or a board seat, and when employees bend over backward to highlight their skills and accomplishments, they actually get paid less and promoted less. People find self-promotion so distasteful that they like you more when you’re praised by someone else — even if they know you’ve hired an agent to promote you.
– Adam Grant
You need to be knowledgeable about something!
It seems like you need to be an expert in something before opening your mouth!
In life, it certainly helps to know the right people. But how hard they go to bat for you, how far they stick their necks out for you, depends on what you have to offer. Building a powerful network doesn’t require you to be an expert at networking. It just requires you to be an expert at something. If you make great connections, they might advance your career. If you do great work, those connections will be easier to make. Let your insights and your outputs — not your business cards — do the talking.
– Adam Grant
So if you want to use Networking to look for work or new professional opportunities you need to do your homework and cllect information that will be of interest for that specific context.
GoodGoing! and its consultants can support you in this too.
We help people promote themselves and network in much the same way Adam Grant describes in his article. I thanked him by choosing to "Follow" him on LinkedIn (you can also do the same on our page:) ).
