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| Networking & Collaborating for Sustainability |
In this world of great #uncertainty and high #competition, you cannot
succeed alone. Therefore, for the growth of your career, you need to #network
with others and #share your thoughts, and expertise and provide mutual and
timely #support. It is true that successful sailing requires # a
well-coordinated moment of hands to pull strings at the right time and with appropriate
force. Similar is the case for innovating new products and services.
Need
for Networking. You must be in the company of good and
#inspiring people as they will infuse good spirit in you to achieve
#excellence. Do not look around for very juniors or yes-men/women or
#mediocre people as they may please you but cannot propel you towards
excellence. Therefore, always seek #association with upcoming and
#progressive people.
With Whom to Network. The
people with whom you should develop networking for advancement/#sustenance of
your career and business #collaboration are:
· Mentors
and Councilors. You must stay in touch with your #mentors which could be your past
teachers/professors or industry #leaders. They will have rich experience in
various capacities during their careers. Due to good hands-on
#experience, a mentor would have his/her contacts in the industry to guide
you and even prepare you for upcoming interviews.
· Inspiring
Friends. A good old saying - “people are known by the friends they
keep” is ever true. Therefore select
good friends, who have a #positive #attitude and are forward-looking. They
may be your old school/college mates or senior or juniors from your
organization or from outside organizations. You should trust and respect them
while supporting and seeking their support on a need basis. Friends may be in
the same location/city or same country or from other countries. It is important
to have #like-minded and #trustworthy friends who easily get along with you.
You must be equally reciprocal to support your friends. Use a friend as a
sounding board to trust and discuss issues, which bother you most. Knowledge
sharing and keeping friends updated about coming events and opportunities help
a lot in pre-planning and becoming #proactive.
· Class
fellows and #Alumni. Both class fellows and alumni are of great value to provide you timely
support, which may be professional/technical, financial assistance or moral
support. Your seniors in your own country or those studying/ serving abroad
will provide relevant inputs to plan your strategy for seeking new jobs. They
will guide and help with your initial administrative needs like boarding and
lodging.
· Past Colleagues. Your #colleagues (including boss and
staff) in your most recent job, would provide good feedback when a new employer
carries out your background check.
· Vendors: Various
suppliers of materials and sub-contractors, who are delivering part of the
product, which was outsourced, will always meet your timeline and quality
standards.
· Customers: You
should get feedback from them and if you are keeping your commitment of time
and delivery, they will speak highly of you to your boss and to other
customers too. Effective networking with customers can help you in getting
repeat orders and the growth of your company. This will add another feather to
your cap.
· Relatives:
Stay in contact with your family members and close relatives, who are working
in their own country and abroad and who can guide/support you.
· Clubs: You
could have a membership of say Health club. Adventure club or Social club/institution. During your visits to the club, you will develop contacts
with many professionals who may invite you to join them.
· Bankers, consultants, Lawyers and Charter Accountants. They could be very helpful in developing your
financial requirement and mitigating financial crises. You may require a loan
and they can help you
· Lawyers. You
may need the protection of your IP /innovation /patents and many other legal
matters related to your business dealings.
· Professional
organizations, Societies, Forums. Be
a member of various professional bodies/associations and societies, which have
national/international repute. If you participate in their seminars, and
conferences and present/contribute technical papers, you will get noticed by
the audience. This provides you with a platform to showcase your talents.
· Member sports club: If you are a sports
person, do join a related sports club, where you will come across sports
professionals. For example, golf is a sport to come across various levels of
professionals and businessmen. You may be noticed by someone for your
competence/personality and you may be offered some
job opportunities.
· Religious Leader:
You may have contact with your religious preacher to seek a way to pray to God
and seek peace, happiness and good health. He/ She can guide you on #meditation
and #spirituality. However, do not get exploited by any such person who is
fanatic about his /her religion. Do respect the religions of all people working
in /outside your organization and participate in their religious functions.
· Doctors: To
sustain a high-pressure job and fast lifestyle, one needs a healthy body and a healthy mind. For this, one must have control over diet and do regular physical
exercise/ and stay fit. Be in contact with your family doctor as
well as with the doctor engaged by your employer. Get your
periodic medical examination done and follow your doctor’s advice. Do not follow
Google -Doctor for self-medication, as that could be harmful in the long run,
Means of networking.
· One-on-One. This is
face to face (f2f) meeting and interaction during various conferences,
seminars, symposiums and scheduled visits. Despite our digital lifestyle,
meeting people in person is still more important than ever. Many global survey
results show that up to 65-70% of important jobs are filled through networking
and referrals.
· Social
Gathering. Interaction during club functions, sports meets social gatherings
like weddings, birthday parties and picnics. You should be selective and make
new contacts.
· Written
Correspondence. Formal letters should be sent through postal service/ courier. These
letters should be rather few and of a very important nature.
· Email. Use
official/ business email ID for sending and receiving inputs. Avoid answering
non-business emails, while on duty at the workplace. You may attend to some
urgent emails during tea or lunch break, but not while on the job.
· Social Media. You need to join some social media networks to share knowledge, and offer / seek assistance related to job opportunities and coming events. However, be selective and do not spend your valuable time responding to every call on social media networks. Some commonly used social networks are Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, portal/website, WhatsApp, Messenger (Microsoft or Facebook), Google+, and Yahoo Groups.
· Blogs. Participate
in blog sharing on technology-related topics
Summary.
Indeed, we are living in an
era of real-time and virtual communication, where we have many friends and
like-minded professionals through LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and
Telegram. However, despite our #digital #lifestyle, meeting people in
person is still more important than ever. Many global survey results show that
up to 65-70% of important jobs are filled through networking and referrals.
More than 40 % of professionals like to network more frequently but they don’t
have enough time. For such over-busy people, video (virtual) conferencing
technology like #Zoom, Microsoft #Teams, #Skype, #Google #Meet, Slack or
Cisco #WebEx can help. The networks you will build would comprise friends,
like-minded professionals, clients, vendors, colleagues and mentors. Each such
person you meet could be key to your career progress or learning new skills and
starting new ventures. You must cash on such #opportunities to enhance your
skills and share life experiences.
The modern business world
is of #alliances and #collaborations, where each member draws #strength from
other members and #collectively they all become #winners. The same formula
applies to project teams or marketing groups. Do not walk alone
since a career is a long journey needing the company of progressive and
supportive people. Always join hands to have collective wisdom and synergy.
That is why many competitors go for technical alliances to gain strength from
each other. They follow a win-win strategy for their business
success and sustainability.
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