In Matthew 22, a man asks Jesus which commandment is the greatest. Jesus responds, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy should and with all thy mind." He went on to say, "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself"(Matthew 22:37, 39).
What it all boils down to is charity. Networking is about making people come first and building relationships. When meeting people, it is less important to try and find how they can help you and more important to look for ways to help them.
I have found that, while it is easier to stay introverted and not talk to people, it is immensely more gratifying to get to know people. Every time I make an effort to know a person, I realize how much happier I am for doing so. Also, it can prove beneficial to know people for networking purposes. Thus far, every job I've had is the result of knowing people. However, I have finally had the experience of helping someone else get a job and it brings so much more joy.
The important thing in business, networking and life is to put people first. Increasing your circle of influence allows you to meet people and learn from them while looking for ways to help them. This is what brings happiness and joy and was taught by the example of the Savior.
How important it is to look for gospel ties in our secular learning--and holy cow, this insight blows my mind away!! It is so true that when we network we should be looking for a relationship that goes two ways: how can we help them as well as how can they help us. We will be more happy and fulfilled individuals and we will probably be more successful at it.
ReplyDeleteI love how you talked about helping someone else. It isn't just about us getting help and it does feel great to help someone else. It is easy to not reach out to people and just stay within our comfortable circles. Networking does take work but it is gratifying in the end.
ReplyDeleteI like this a lot. I believe that if we network for the sole purpose of benefiting from others, we'll be disappointed. We need to make sure we go in to relationships with hopes of helping others in one way or another. By doing this, we'll find a lot more satisfaction in our relationships.
ReplyDeleteWow this is so true! I always feel like networking is something God wants me to do. Meeting new people is critical to success, personally and spiritually!
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