The topic for April's WNG meeting was Networking.  I already shared some musings about networking in my April 8th post, but as I expected, the conversation took on a life of its own.  We wandered into questions of gender, communication style and, of course, shared some do's and don't with each other.

One of my favorite parts of the conversation was the advice proffered by networking "guru's" (often men) and the question of which advice is good advice.  Aja shared something she read suggesting that people track relevant information about a person, including spouse name, children, favorite foods and anything else that might "personalize" a future conversation.  Some members of the group do track bit of personal information.  Often on a client's folder or business card, so that they can follow up on conversations in the future.  Others of us rely on our memory to keep track of what we learn about others.  

One distinction between the women who chose one of these two styles over the other was the way these future conversations were initiated.  Those who have regular follow-up calls with clients often tracked the information and referred to it before initating a call.  For those of us who run into people in a more spontaneous way relied on our memories because there was no opportunity to check a folder or business cards.  We then noted that the strategy of integrating both one's life and business into a conversation is a style most often associated with women rather than men.  Therefore these male "guru's" were really just advising us to go with what is often our natural inclination.  

Another conversation I enjoyed was about the primary purpose of networking: relationships or sales.  We all agreed that we placed a premium on building a relationship over a shorter term focus on sales.  The longer term benefits of building relationships included friendship, communities, referrals and sales (in that order) and that was more valuable to all of us than a shorter term focus on cold, hard cash.  

The paragraph above seems somewhat trite to me, but at the same time it is an idea that I feel the entire group was sincere about.  We all need to make a living, but when it comes down to brass tacks, what makes you feel all warm and fuzzy?  A bank statement with a lot of zeroes or walking into a room with a group of people who you know care about you and your well-being, and that you in turn care about?  For me it is definitely the latter.

Next month?  Next month we are talking about the issues, joys, benefits and landmines of working in a multigenerational workplace.  Come join us for the conversation on Tuesday, May 13th at 6pm.