I am amazed. This week i have contacted 25 alums in senior positions across multiple companies and 3 CEOs who were not alums. I have heard back from almost all of them including all the CEOs. While i am recruiting in this pathetic economy, it is heartening to hear back from these people and gives me hope and shows me the power of networking. I am generally a shy person when reaching out to new people that i have not met before, but shedding my shyness, i have made progress. It may not amount to much, but it is something that i will remember always.
I have come to believe that business is all about networks – knowing people who are important in life. People who are successful and can help and those who are not so. The former help you in your endeavours and the latter are your way to give back. Networking is a much aligned word and i have heard sniggers from friends even at business school, but all human endeavour is the result of a mutually rewarding relationship. From collaborating in research on quantum physics, to helping each other in times of crisis. Those who understand this paradigm are bound for success and those who live in their own shelves, believing in their individual superiority are bound for mediocrity. There are exceptions, of course, but only for the genuine geniuses who only have something to give. For most of us, we are incomplete individuals and networks help us be part of a whole. If there is power in religion, it is due to the human network it entails.
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