The Three Principles of Networking

You have read my earlier quick tips on networking part I and II, you will realize that there are common principles that you can draw on. I have reduced them down to three simple principles which you can identify with if you need a framework to improve your networking.

Recently, I gave a talk about networking under a well-labelled title named “Student 2.0″. I distinguished the differences between good and bad networking. One student leader has given feedback and thoughts about my talk. Of course, they loved the demos that I did on how to maneuver yourself in a networking session and also how to write a corresponding email to an important person you want to know. Yet, he thought that I did not bring out why they need to know how to network. I thought that it might be good to flash out some reasons why you need a good network:

• Friendship and Mentorship: Yes, the world may be full of sharks and bad guys, but there are some business people who have made it and decided to take their time to train and teach the young. If you meet someone from the networking, never seek for an opportunity. You should be at least be sincere as you would do with your friends and conduct your dealings with the person professionally. A good network allows you to find a mentor who might possibly guide and steer you in the right direction.
• Looking for a job/references: This is self-explanatory. At times, you might need to get references from people in your network so that you can get your next job opportunity.
• Finding a collaboration, create strategic alliances or business opportunities: Particularly, if you start up a business or enterprise, your network is what you can tap into. Where do you find the people you need to join you on your venture? Where can you find your potential investors/collaborators/clients? Where do you find joint-venture opportunities? Usually, getting customers through the industry network is both the “why and how” for most entrepreneurs to succeed in their venture.

As usual, here is a framework of three principles which I think is essential for networking.

• The Principle of Culture: You have to know who you are dealing with. The law of culture is important when you are not dealing with people from your own culture. The best example I like to use is how you pass your namecard to the person you speak to. In western culture, you tend to pass your name card with one hand while in Asia, you will hold the card in both hands with a respectful greeting. Similarly, when you are placed in a foreign country, you should learn how to greet “hello” in their language. No one realizes that if you start with the language of the native country (not necessarily your own), you will win some attention from the other party. We should respect cultural values and norms even though we might have differences.
• The Principle of Association: You should leverage on people who are associated to you via your affliations. The best examples are the schools you have attended, the hostels or halls of residence you live during your college or university days, the church groups you attend, the grassroots association you work for under a politician or the company you work for.

  Networking is easy if you can find a common association. For example, if you meet someone in the networking party, the moment he talks about where he used to study, you should use the law of association to tear down the boundaries. Let me use a simple example to show this. Imagine two people A and B, where A is a student who is in his final year of study and B is an alumni who was invited for this occasion. A introduces himself by saying that he’s studying engineering in NUS, and B was also an alumni of engineering faculty. B will tell A that they are from the same faculty. Using this association, A can now continue to get to know B better.

• The Principle of Influence: This law can be thought of as the law of power. In any networking event, from the VIP to the cleaner, every person has a certain level of influence. The person with the most influence will not need to introduce him or herself to anyone, and this trickles down all the way to the lowest level. Sometimes, to get to the person with the most influence, you need to ask someone you know (who might be your mentor or senior) to introduce you to that person.

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