Networking- the easy joy of making connections or a necessary evil for professional advancement? Neither, says Kingsley Aikins, CEO of Diaspora Matters and passionate teacher of networking skills to third level students all over the world. He spoke to Richard Curran on The Business about how networking is more important than ever and with a little help, can become a breeze.
"I think networking struggles a little bit because most people actually hate the concept. It conjures up images of rather sleazy, slimy people in the bar late at night flicking out business cards… I think there's a problem there with the world but also we tend to mix up networking and sociability. We tend to think the more sociable person is the best networker but that's not always the case, in fact, ironically, people who are somewhat shy and even introverted can be better networkers because they do it with decency and authenticity and integrity."
Kingsley cited studies that show those with greater and crucially more diverse networks tend to live longer, be mentally stronger, earn more money and feel happier, yet no school or university teaches these crucial life skills. The first thing to note is it's not about the take-take-take principle.
"I thinking networking is all about giving, not getting. I think if you live your life in a giving sense, if you think about giving to individuals on the basis it'll come back to you from the network, if you do it and you don't keep score… it really benefits you whereas most people think, I've got a problem, I need a new job, I need more sales, so I've got to go networking, I've got to go at it from a different angle."
Can you teach the art of networking? Absolutely, says Kingsley.
"You can teach everything!… I've designed a whole process that you can follow… The number one important thing is to be a world-class listener and here's the problem: nobody listens. People only listen to prepare what they're going to say next, they don't listen to what somebody's saying… If you listen really well to somebody, you'll actually make them brainier. You actually make them order their thoughts better and you know what, you learn everything. When Richard Branson was here at the Pendulum Summit, he said you learn nothing by talking. It's so obvious, isn't it?"
Click here to listen to Kingsley's interview in full on The Business.