Nothing is forever — Except Us
Actually the whole quote is: "My Love, Nothing is Forever - Except Us" - House of Cards. When I heard this quote it really hit me hard and made me think about what I wanted, where I wanted to be, my future and most of all my network. I believe we all come to this moment once or twice in our lifetime where we excel, move forward and change for the better. I am just like the rest of you no matter being a CEO, manager, recruiter, professional or even the 9-5 professional; we all work to pay our bills and more. But if you knew my friends, colleagues, mentors, supporters, my network and family they would say that I they would say that I give too much and ask for anything in return. But then they would say I would one up them and it would be this: To excel your profession, your personal life and networking it take two to achieve those goals as well as having that one person in your life to support, motivate and your biggest cheerleader. That is the partner that you want in the trenches the world is at its worst and or best.
I thought of other aspects in my life and came to the realization that I didn't know how to use my network and how long it would take to get it activated & working. To make a long story short I started a new career, learned the ropes which took me awhile to learn, notified my network, meet with professionals and went to networking events. I thought my network would move fast and be eager to help but as you all know everything takes time. I didn't have the time to wait which was my biggest fail - underestimating how long it would take to succeed.
The other part in my realization was I thought I needed a woman in my life to be my power partner in networking. I actually asked several women in my network out on dates because they were in to networking, business and were single professional women. I've never done that before and felt I was doing something wrong but I thought I needed a power partner in networking which I was totally wrong - I don't need a power partner.
To sum it up networking takes a long time, you have to cultivate, fertilize, water and harvest before you get to eat the benefits of you harvest. If I could give a tip to any professional in networking: Plant the seed (reach out to your network), watch it grow (be patient) and when the time is right harvest (meet with that professional and do some business). After attending 3-4 networking events for many years I've never seen a networking power partner and I don't see it happening in the future. Finally my tip would be: You don't need a power partner to be a successful networking, just be yourself and do what right.
Carpe Diem,
Michael Td Roberts