As a personal mantra, I keep telling my clients that Networking remains the best way to get job leads or to improve your Career Prospects.
But I often get pushback. “It’s not easy as I’m an Introvert!”,”Who would want to meet me?”, “How do I even start?”.
So I set myself a task – what I call, #TheNetworkingChallenge – To network with 40 People in 20 Days.
And after ONE CRAZY MONTH, I did it!!!
The rules are simple:
- At least 2/3 of the meetings need to be with new contacts
- The Objective is to remember at least 3 facts about each person you meet
- You cannot ‘hard-sell’ them any product or service directly or ask them for a favour
- The meetings can be face to face or virtual
- You must have fun in the process
I know you have many questions, so here are 8 that might be hanging on your mind:
1. How did you come up with this crazy idea?
I was encouraging a client of ours to go out and meet more people as his circle of contacts was dismally small.
He pushed back and said, “You make it sound so easy… how many can you meet in a month, if you really tried?”
Which got me thinking… “Hmmm… what if I really dialed my Networking activity to the MAX?”
So, I came up with this CRAZY PLAN – To meet as MANY PEOPLE as I can in ONE MONTH!
2. How did you get these individuals to meet you?
It wasn’t easy, to be honest.
But it wasn’t too tough either.
Many were my first-level contacts on LinkedIn and I reached out to them on the platform to ask if they needed anything from me…. and that I would be happy to meet up with them if they had the time.
The Rejection Rate was incredibly HIGH, but those who responded were REALLY NICE people.
3. Who were these individuals who responded?
At first, I thought only the junior folks or those who were between jobs would be keen to respond to my outreach.
But to my great surprise, many of them were quite Senior Business Leaders!
I met with CEOs, MDs and also, a CHRO and a CFO!
Which leads me to believe that these successful leaders got there because they understood the importance of Networking and were always ready to meet someone new and interesting.
4. Did you have to pay for their coffee/meal?
About 62% of my meetings were face-to-face and the remaining 38% were virtual.
For my in-person meetings…I had to check my credit card bill for this one, as I really wasn’t keeping track of this datapoint.
And surprise, surprise…
Slightly over half of my coffee/meals were paid for by my Networking Partner!
So, this puts the idea that “Networking can get expensive” to rest… All the people I met were overly generous with their time, attention and expense account.
5. Was it Fun?
Absolutely!
I learnt a lot about each person’s Industry, Role and Career Story… how they got to where they are today, and what challenges they faced.
I also discovered something interesting – many of the successful folks I spoke with came from very humble beginnings and worked their way up.
And I also learnt a lot about the strangest things, like why EV Cars aren’t as green as they’re marketed to be, why MNCs are leaving Singapore for cheaper places like Bangkok and KL, and that it takes only 4-5 days to ride a motorbike from Singapore to Chiangmai.
So, I can unequivocally say that I had a BLAST meeting each and every one of these 43 individuals. Each meeting was a Gem of an Experience for me.
5. But was it Tiring?
Yes it was… in fact, it was exhausting.
Because these networking meetings aren’t all ‘idle chat and shooting the wind’, I had to have my ‘A-Game’ on during these conversations to keep the other party engaged.
I was also very emotionally invested in each discussion as I genuinely wanted to give 100% of my attention and energy so that I wouldn’t be wasting the other person’s time.
And yes, it was also tiring having to run from place to place for these meet-ups. On one occasion, I had 4 appointments in a day and had to scoot from one location to another.
But the effort was definitely worth it and I made many good friends along the way.
6. Were there tangible outcomes?
I began this challenge with no agenda in mind, except to see how many new friends I could make / old friends I could reconnect with, and that was it.
No Selling, No Pitching, No Ulterior Motives.
And here are some outcomes I’d love to share with you.
a. Made 43 strong connections
b. Found 5 potential partners for collaboration
c. Put 6 individuals in contact with other people in my network for various professional reasons.
d. Closed 4 Career Coaching programs
e. Became more familiar with 3 new industries that I was never familiar with.
So, the benefits were both tangible and intangible – I came out of this experiment a smarter, better person.
7. What did I learn from this experience?
I learnt several important life lessons in this 20 days.
a. You’d be surprised how many people would say yes to meeting you if you simply reached out to them.
b. Senior Leaders are humans. They have their own challenges, worries and daily stresses.
c. Take notes. After the 10th meeting, I was beginning to lose track of who said what, so log things down in a safe place for future retrieval when you’re meeting the same person again.
d. Give, not take. Don’t approach a Networking Session with a ‘What can I get out of this?’ intention – I was giving out so much free career advice that it’s a shame I couldn’t charge for it! 🙂
e. Have fun! These meetings need not be stressful – just be yourself and don’t over-analyse or worry.
8. Would I do it again?
Yes, but not 43 people in 20 days!
That would be too exhausting!
The journey has been exciting and I would strongly encourage you to give this a shot.
Do reach out to me if you’d like to learn how I survived the process!