Does the idea of networking make your skin crawl? It certainly did that to me (that is, before I actually started doing it). But if you want to advance your career opportunities in truly exciting ways, you are hurting yourself by sitting on the sidelines. Here's why:
Networking brings more people into your life, which makes life more interesting and fun by design
Networking brings you more opportunities that you could not have dreamed of, which translates into more money
Networking gives you more opportunities to be helpful to others, which gives life meaning.
These are pretty attractive, right? So why aren't you doing it? Because you have ideas about networking that simply aren't true.
Here's what networking is not:
--Using other people for your own gain. No. Your one-pointed focus when it comes to networking is to be helpful to others. That's it. Once you build a reputation for being helpful, the benefits start coming to you without you having to go looking for them.
--Showing off in front of people. Ew, no. Yes, it's helpful to publicly show examples of your work in whatever medium helps you do it, but you can (and should) still be yourself. No need to post click-baity nonsense or selfies on beaches.
--Spending endless amounts of time schmoozing. Again, no. You can develop a rich and meaningful network in about 15 minutes per day. If you're starting from zero, I recommend getting on LinkedIn, spending 10 minutes leaving thoughtful comments on others' posts, and spending the last 5 minutes writing your post. Focus on being helpful with your posts.
Are you letting these myths hold you back?
Please don't. Networking done right isn't sleazy and all-consuming. And you are leaving opportunities, fun, and deeper life meaning on the table if you continue to avoid it.
Ginger Lockhart, PhD is a former tenured professor and creator of QuantFish, a statistics education platform, and QuantFish R&D, a research and consultancy service. She does this alongside her husband and three young kids from a little farm in the West Virginia countryside.
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