I Hated Networking Until I Learned What It Really Was

Years ago, if anyone had asked me about networking, I would have dismissed it as surface-level socialising with no real value.

That view was based on my limited experience. Most of what I had seen in the corporate world happened at large events, hosting tables, and making polite conversation with people I did not know and were unlikely to see again.

I could not see how it helped me, how I could help them, or why it mattered.

No one had ever shown me how to network. I completed an MBA, and networking was never part of the learning or conversations. So, like many people, I misunderstood it.

When I started my own business, one of my mentors kept urging me to join a professional networking organisation. I resisted for months. His message, however, never changed: if you want to build a business, you need to develop a network.

At the time, it was not my thing.

Now, after years in a professional networking community, I see it very differently.

I get it.

Networking is not about working a room, collecting contacts, or being social for its own sake.

Networking is about building genuine relationships, creating trust, and understanding how to contribute to others.



That is a very different thing.

Read more here, with Networking is Work