Networking for Growth

Thinking about a possible collaboration, and engagement in the team.

I appreciated the place of networking for growth when I paid a courtesy call at the office of a director in an educational institution. The professor placed a call across to me for an appointment. He told me he was calling me concerning a research project my team was undertaking for which a mail was sent to the generality of staff of his institution of affiliation. I didn’t think twice to see him in his office after confirming a training for some international participants I was to serve as an assistant convener that day is no longer taking place. I was already thinking about a possible collaboration, and maybe engagement in his team. Although he mentioned that during the one-hour discussion, I gained much more. I enjoyed the conversation. I am sharing with you in the next paragraphs some sidenotes on networking for growth which I derived from the discussion. The salient tips center around communication issues to gain the best from similar opportunities for growth in any profession. Here we go!

Prepare ahead if you have an appointment. He asked me about the projects and keeps narrowing his questions down to gain more insight into what I am doing. Finally, he began to raise some issues on the subject matter. The tail end of the discussion provided an answer to a suggestion that an expert on the area raise in an email communication before I met with the director. Here, I can’t place less emphasis on the importance of consistently acquiring credible knowledge and skills no matter what it will cost you. It does not need to be on the job alone. Enrolment in a professional program can place you in the same class with participants from different industries or lecture delivery can be from experts who have gained decades of experience. So, you have a pool of knowledge to grow the niche you have created for yourself. In my case, I received about one hour of a lecture from seasoned academia. During the unofficial session, another faculty also intercepted the discussion. It was indeed a pool of experience.

What makes your idea novel is the demand to acquire or use the knowledge by others who want to adopt it to meet a new requirement not necessarily the ‘newness’. Your reward is the credit attributed to you.

dhepro

Don’t claim you know everything in what you are doing no matter the novelty. Knowledge does not start with you and it is not likely to end with you. The idea you are using presently come from different sources. Don’t hide what you have. What makes it novel is the demand to acquire or use the knowledge by others who want to adopt it to meet a new requirement. Your reward is the credit attributed to you. It can’t be forgotten in history like the popular law of gravity by Galileo.

Learn through experience, but also through mastery of what you do.

Learning. It is a continuous process that comes from formal and informal means. News documentary is an important source of information. The director cited a recent news update which I was not privy to. It is that serious! Explore your industry information from the relevant sources, maybe from development organizations like United Nations, and devour the necessary ingredients. I marveled some of the facts I got from him were not known to me. Sure, he was addressing another aspect of the central theme different from mine. I took an important point – he has not only learned through experience, but he also learned through mastery of what he does. He seems to be releasing the information effortlessly but I noted he has taken his time to gain facts from different sources. Little wonder, he emphasized the need for me to go for more facts in my study.

Listen yesterday, today, and tomorrow. That’s active listening -every time, not just when a superior is sharing knowledge with you but with anybody. I blamed myself when I interrupted him at certain points to make a few clarifications. He was not right completely, but I was not right to have interrupted his view. Listen attentively and note your questions, comments, and reservations to be raised after he’s. These later points are also means for learning. Seek for clarifications when necessary and let answers provided to your questions increase your knowledge base. You also share knowledge by providing a better explanation of what you’re doing that was not properly judged by your assessor, mentor, or superior.

Ask questions. You may feel embarrassed when your question is answered when you later realized you know the answer. Have you experienced this before? The memory of one of the experiences I had is still very fresh. I asked my Chemistry teacher: why is it that Hydrogen can be placed in groups one or seven? He gave a simple answer: it needs one electron to fill its outer shell. Come and see how I felt. The idea may lie fallow if you don’t ask the question. You would have remained on the same project for a long time without progress for that hidden idea. Another shortcoming is the likelihood of promoting a shallow idea when you could have promoted a novel one when the key of knowledge is not in your hand. No idea is irrelevant. If it is not relevant to what you are doing now or your area of specialty, it could be useful in other decision areas. Stay glued to it. Keep it safe and use it when relevant.

Keep in touch. Don’t wait until you need a favour. He may also need you in the future. Shouldn’t that be one of the reasons for networking? Inform him of what you are doing presently in your profession. When it is necessary, request input to your work that relates to what he is doing. For instance, if you are an academic, express that your wish they mentor you and collaborate on a specific project. Don’t be perturbed if there is no timely response. Remember they have their schedule which may not include communicating with you.

Appreciate the time spent with you. Courtesy demands that you reciprocate the kind gesture with a simple voiced thank you sound. Can I send a feedback text? Why not? It keeps you in his list of contacts. All he needs to do is to search for a keyword in his messaging app if he needs to get in touch another time if he got to save your contact.

Be sure the communication line is opened every time. Be sure to check your email, LinkedIn account, and other networking apps for timely responses to messages to keep communications going.

It should keep getting better with you as you grow along this path. Be ready to adjust to new demands or requirements for networking for improved results.

dhepro

Don’t ignore being of help to an amateur. Remember you were at the same level before if you are not currently a starter. Ideas can come from both the mentee and the mentor. The list is inexhaustible. It should keep getting better with you as you grow along this path. Be ready to adjust to new demands or requirements for networking for improved results. Remember that’s the essence of the post on this page. I will be waiting at the other end to receive your suggestions, comments, and clarification on this post.