Permission to Reject Traditional Networking - Granted
By Tana M. Mann Easton, Lead Efficiency Engineer
In last week’s blog post, I introduced my counterculture oracle, Greg McKeown. In a recent Instagram post, Greg asserted, “The key to networking is to stop networking. 99 percent of networking is a waste of time. It’s fake. It’s self-interested. People are always looking over your shoulder to see who else is there. People put on a show. Nobody likes it.”
According to Greg, we should reject what traditional networking has been customarily known for and do the opposite: be real and honest, ask genuine questions, pay attention to the person you are with and build sincere relationships.
I actually have personal experience with Greg McKeown, and I know he practices what he preaches. In 2020, I read one of his books, and I emailed his website to thank him for the ways that his words positively affected my life. He emailed me back and asked if he could chat. He was in the process of starting a podcast, and at the time he was building his content. So we scheduled a time for him to interview me. He asked me questions and heard more about my story. He said he benefited a lot early in his career from mentors, and he’s always wanting to pass that energy forward, so he asked me if there is anything he could do for me. I thanked him again for the ideas he promotes in his work. It was a very genuine conversation. He asked me to keep in touch, so I email him periodic updates, and he responds with encouragement.
From my own familiarity and from everything I’ve ever seen or heard regarding him, Greg McKeown is a person who rejects conventional networking, choosing to instead foster genuine, honest relationships. If you find that “networking” events make you want to hide, then perhaps redefining what networking means to you would help. Reframe it as real instead of fake, listening instead of talking, service instead of self-serving, relationships instead of transactions. People I have real relationships with tend to help me most in all areas of my life, and they’re the people I pour my energy and money into as well. And if you can’t find a way to be real during certain events or with certain people, you can practice another Greg McKeown theory, essentialism, and cut those occurrences out of your life.
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Sincerely Yours,
Focus to Evolve Team