Appreciation was the gift he wanted.
Karl Edwards
Blog
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Listen In -> Natural Networking #4: Keeping Conversations Context Appropriate
There you are on the sidelines of your kid’s soccer game cheering yourself hoarse.There next to you is another parent trying to assess your insurance needs.
What’s wrong with this picture?
The context isn’t appropriate for professional networking.
In this week’s show, Claudia and I look at the context of our networking opportunities.
If both of you parents in our example were ignoring the game and searching for a discussion topic, then work could be an interesting and relevant diversion. But in this example, our antagonist seems blind to your engagement with the game.
Natural networking, on the other hand, would recognize that this is a family event and that you are both there to support your kids.
Consequently, any conversation and relationship building would center on soccer, your brilliant kids, blind referees, or how much time is involved in all these practices and games.
Conversation happens. Relationship building happens. Trust builds. Connections form. But the topic is not work.
How sensitive or appropriate is your networking to its context?
Listen in.
Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.
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Loving Monday: Coping with Rain
Some days it rains.Born and raised in Southern California, I am not a natural fan of the rain. While I understand its nourishing, generative, and cleansing attributes, I generally consider it an intruder, a nuisance and an unfortunate complication.
Some days, though, it rains.
There is no escaping it. There is no wishing it were otherwise. There is no pretending it has no impact.What do you do when it rains?
Stay inside and suspend your plans? Bundle up and trudge on through?
I am learning a third way… to welcome the rain.
While certainly not my preference, rain is occasionally my reality. I can face my reality and make the most of it, or I can bemoan my reality and painfully endure it.
I can choose to transform the situation into an opportunity, or I can choose to blame the situation for holding me back and ruining my plans. The choice is mine.
How will you respond if it’s raining when you arrive at work? The choice is yours.
Some days it rains.
Loving Monday is a weekly column designed to encourage us to step into our weeks with an intention to show up authentically, engage fully, and choose to make it a good week for ourselves. Explore past columns here.
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Quote to Consider: Marry Continuity and Change
“Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights.”Pauline R. Kezer
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Karl Shares Six Words… #54
Your report I ignore is late.
Karl Edwards
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Listen In -> Natural Networking #3: Fostering Conversations and Discovering Connections
Who was that you were talking with at your most recent networking event?Do you remember anything more than whether or not they qualified as a sales prospect that should be tracked?
Tracked. Like prey to a hunter.
In this week’s show, Claudia and I offer a different, healthier, and, we believe, more effective way to think about networking.
How would it affect your style if you were tracking conversations instead of prospects?
Networking that views others through the lens of sales potential filters out a hundred other possible connections that could propel a relationship forward.
Tracking how close to closing a sales deal you are with each prospect also limits your options for follow-up prompts, topics, and occasions.
Keeping track of conversations, on the other hand, opens up a thousand contact points, areas of shared interest, personal issues, public opinions, etc. that are the bread and butter of authentic human connection.
Conversations don’t need to end, giving you a vehicle for keeping in contact, following up, and showing continued interest. Conversations give you a means for building trust and relationship over time.
What if networking were a natural process of initiating and fostering conversation?
Listen in.
Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.
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Favorite Authors: Malcolm Gladwell
I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun learning so much.Malcolm Gladwell is more than just a good writer or thinker or teacher.
His power lies beyond his delightful wit or his challenging insights.
The joy and significance of Malcolm Gladwell is in the different vantage points to which he climbs and looks at a myriad of issues.He is working through perspectives that most of us don’t even consider.
I am amazed at how often I catch myself being caught off guard by my own unexamined assumptions.
Instead of announcing the conclusions of his research like most authors, Gladwell seems more interested in getting us to think for ourselves.
He pokes, uncovers, juxtaposes, teases, and challenges.
Besides being thoroughly entertained, I have become a better thinker after reading anything by Gladwell. I think you will too.
Must Read Books
Outliers: The Story of Success
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
I hope you have as much fun as I did learning to think about more and learning to think better!
Favorite Authors are those unique writers whom I believe are worth reading everything they have written. Explore all my favorites here.
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Loving Monday: Getting One Thing Done
So many goals for the week.So many voices shouting for attention.
The distractions and demands can confuse us, alter our priorities, or even overwhelm us.
That’s when I find it helpful to commit simply to getting one thing done.
One thing that will take precedence over everything else.
With a single goal settled for the day, other important tasks and issues can be scheduled in light of it.
Instead of losing your most important priority in the mix of the many important things, it becomes the stable anchor around which everything else can be organized.
Daily Focus Pad
Have you seen our Daily Focus Pad?Three simple questions with which to begin each day.
- If I accomplish one thing today, that one thing must be…
- What one complicating reality can I anticipate and head off?
- What one element can I include in my day that will keep me energized?
Get a copy for yourself. Or purchase a discounted set for the team. (Click here.)
Before anything else…
Before you do anything else, pause and decide what one thing you will commit to accomplish today?
Give yourself the gift of focus and accomplishment today.
On your side,
– Karl Edwards
Loving Monday is a weekly column designed to encourage us to step into our weeks with an intention to show up authentically, engage fully, and choose to make it a good week for ourselves. Explore past columns here.
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Quote to Consider: Getting to Virtue
“Virtue is what happens when wise and courageous choices have become ‘second nature’…“It doesn’t come by accident. It comes through the self-discipline required to do anything in life really well—to learn a musical instrument, to mend a tractor, to give a lecture, to run an orphanage. Or, indeed, to live as a wise human being.”
N.T. Wright
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Karl Shares Six Words… #53
Stunned to hear boss’s first apology.
Karl Edwards