People have talked about "effective" networking, relationship building, being remembered and being referred, giving before getting, helping without strings, and probably at least a dozen other phrases for what feels like eons. Indeed, maybe there's an argument to be made that the oldest and most famous (?) networking axiom might be "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Who knows?
I guess what we do know, however, is that our lives, both personal and business, really are about relationships. Maybe this is why when I read a recent post by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval on The Huffington Post it reminded me of all this. Their post was called How We Discovered The Power of Nice. It is well worth the read if for no other reason than to give renewed hope to those of us who believe in the philosophy of pay it forward.
Indeed, when ExecuNet was started nearly 19 years ago, our first tag line was "The Power of Cooperation." While the tag line has changed over the years, for sure our operating philosophy certainly hasn't and reading about Linda and Robin's experience served as a very nice reminder, and while it wasn't necessarily a "perfect" fit, it also reminded me of a well known quote of Maya Angelou's that I always thought was very powerful:
“People do not remember what you say or what you do, over the years, but they never forget how you made them feel.”
1 comment:
Dave,
Thanks for the link to Linda and Robin's post, which is full of good ideas. Their blog naturally led me to their book, which I must now buy!
Networking is about looking for ways to help the other person, and trusting that if you can help enough other people get what they want, you will eventually get what you need. You, Linda and Robin are eloquent advocates for that approach to life.
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