The Power of Networking
A few days ago, out of the blue I received a message on LinkedIn…
“It’s great to meet you. I’m a friend of Brian J. Grim and he mentioned your name to me when I told him I’ll be visiting Scotland. I’ll be visiting the Dundee area this weekend!”
That was the beginning of my association with Robert.
He simply reached out.
We had a few back n forward messages on LinkedIn and established that due to various meeting commitments we could meet for lunch in Edinburgh.
We’d never met before in our life, yet we had so many mutual connections, shared interests and values, it just felt like a good idea to sit down and chat!
And I’m glad we did.
We met up a couple of days ago.
It was extremely uncanny about our life’s similarities, personal interests and general like-mindedness!
We talked about everything from social media, BYU, religious freedom, faith, coaching, leadership, goal setting, career development, and a whole host of personal friends and professional colleagues in our network.
We enjoyed our 90-minute conversation together so much, we determined to keep in touch.
And what is the lesson?
Don’t underestimate the value of reaching out—or saying yes when someone else does.
Just one single message can spark a connection that grows into something meaningful.
In today’s world, relationships and networking are crucial.
Networking can and does open doors.
Take the time to connect.
It has been my experience that the true value of networking lies in the quality of relationships rather than in the number of connections we might have.
Ideas and opportunities arise in our conversations every day and spread through people so quickly now.
And all of it – support, insight, inspiration, often begins with a simple hello and someone reaching out.
Its been my experience that you just never know where a single connection might lead.
That is the power of networking.
Who’s someone you’ve been meaning to reach out to?
