Networking is the business equivalent to drinking plenty of clean, fresh water. Your body (and your business) needs it and if it doesn’t get enough of it, you become dehydrated. Then all hell breaks loose.
According to Dr. Brian Clement, director of the Hippocrates Health Institute and author of Living Foods for Optimum Health, sixty percent of the global population does not consume enough water to sustain good health. To further complicate the issue, it seems that forty percent of humans lacks a little bell in the brain that tells them to drink.
So what does all of this health stuff have to do with business networking? Well, in my experience it seems like most business professionals take networking for granted and substitute it with a lot of other “stuff.” We don’t realize how important it is until we really need it (getting laid off = severe dehydration). We kid ourselves that other beverages will do the trick:
- coffee ≠ water
- soda ≠ water
- sports drinks (e.g., Gatorade/Power Aid ) ≠water
In my book, the best source of networking is face to face interaction. Too much reliance on social media or texting will eventually dehydrate your business relationships. In order to maintain a healthy connectedness, people need to see you, hear you, feel you, experience you in the full 3D context.
Your networking GOAL for this week:
This week, set aside time to do some quality face-to-face networking with someone in your professional network. Peel yourself away from your busy work schedule or project load and give your full attention to an important relationship in your business or career. Share a meal together or meet for a refreshing glass of cool, clear water with a slice of lemon or lime (substitute the coffee thing, just in the spirit of this week’s networking theme). Notice how good you feel following this networking experience. You have just re-hydrated and strengthened this important relationship. Good for you!
- Let me know what results you get from implementing this business networking tip – NetworkingAhead.com/facebook
