“Tell me what company you keep and I’ll tell you what you are,” said Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote.
More than 400 years later, the idea still holds true. The prevailing business wisdom today is that you’re the sum of the five people you spend most of your time with.
It’s an interesting idea. If you want to be successful, hang out with successful people. If you want to learn a lot about a subject, hang out with the experts.
But what if you’re not in anyone’s Five? You’re smart, you’re successful, but no one seems to know it. The question becomes, do they know you? Do people even know you’re out there, ready to lend your expertise and knowledge? So how can you establish yourself as a resource, an ally, or someone who can help without expecting anything in return.
If you want to find your Five, or be a part of someone else’s Five, it all starts with networking. You need to establish yourself in your community or among your colleagues in your field.
Be present: The most important part of networking is just being there. Show up at networking events, like At The Top, the Chamber of Commerce, or other business networking. Meet people in the community and try to learn as much about them as you can. Don’t try shotgunning your business cards to as many people as you can. Rather, try to have a longer, more meaningful conversation with 2 – 4 people while you’re there and see if you can find someone you’re interested in getting to know further.
Establish a relationship: Networking relationships don’t happen during networking events, they happen over time, in coffee shops and over lunch. Find those people you want to get to know better and invite them to lunch. Spend time getting to know them, not just what they do for a living, but about them as a person.
Share your knowledge: George Bernard Shaw once said, “If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples, then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.” Be willing to share your knowledge and information. Teach people what you know, and they’ll teach you what they know. And as you begin learning from others this way, you truly become the sum of their knowledge. And they’ll take what you have taught and incorporate it into their own lives.
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