THE IMPORTANCE OF NETWORKING

  JUST THINKING:

There is an ''evil'' I see under the sun that makes worthy, capable and competent people lose because they could not garner enough votes to win the contest, event and elections. In project fame, Sunday Best and The Voice just to mention a few end up having unworthy winners because the eventual winners get more votes through their friends, family, colleagues, neighbours and so on who were able to beg, buy, ask, garner, and solicit for votes from other people to vote for the winner. This is the "evil'' that happens to those competent people who do not have paid fans, owned fans and earned fans. 

You need people around you to help you fulfill some of your visions. I have heard of people who got some good jobs because someone somewhere knows someone in the company. In the business world, the people you know directly or indirectly give you an edge over some other people who do not have people to help them push in their proposals. Does this mean we should throw away competence, merit, integrity and hard-work?

No, we should not do that but we need to learn the importance of networking. You need to network, make friends and build relationships. Hard work and competence will help you get a job and maybe sustain it but connections or friends will help you get it easily, keep you on the job and makes you grow faster on the job or the business. This is why there is politics in the work places and in businesses. If I may ask; who do you know? Who are the people in your network?

What is the worth of your friendships, clientele, and click of friends? It is not necessarily or compulsory that all your friends are among the cream de la cream of the society.  They could be rich and low in the eyes of the society. But a cleaner, driver or security personnel in an office could be the help you need to get the contract, the promotion you need and even the job. Some people could be low in our eyes but they are very connected and influential.

Also, the strength of your connections will determine the kind of people who are attracted to you and the people who come around you. This is one of the reasons people hang out, attend functions, and join associations and clubs. Build relationships by being a relationship person. Work on your soft skills, go out and be active on social networks with meaningful contributions, topics and selling yourself through profile and information about yourself.

Proverbs 27:17 ESV "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another."

Proverbs 13:20 THE MESSAGE says, “Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces’’.

Proverbs 13: 20 NCV says, “Spend time with the wise and you will become wise, but the friends of fools will suffer”.

In our present world, hard work, competence and merit will not give you all that you want. You also need people, people’s skills and relationships. This is one of the reasons you see brilliant and competent people not getting jobs, business contracts and promotions in offices.