What is Your Networking Mindset?

In order to be an effective networker, you need to have the right mindset.  The right mindset varies depending on your style and networking goals.  The below mindsets are focused on attending events.  What is your networking mindset?

Let Me At ‘Em

These types of people are very proactive and put themselves in various situations to meet people.  They are not afraid to talk to anyone and make an effort to connect. Sometimes these people can be too aggressive but they understand that in order for networking to work, you need to make things happen.  For the most part, they understand the value of networking.

I Like People But…

These types of people understand what networking is but are not comfortable talking to people who they don’t know.  From time to time, they will come out of their comfort zone and start conversations. These people generally need help in meeting people so introductions are always appreciated.

Why Should I Try so Hard?

These types of individuals generally don’t attend networking events because they don’t believe in the value. If they do attend an event, then they don’t usually start conversations. They would rather let people come to them either directly or through an introduction.

I Don’t Care

These types of individuals don’t really care about the networking process. Therefore, they never attend events or try to meet new people. Also, they don’t have much of a process in place to keep in touch with their existing network, which may be small.  For some of these people, they still can build a network because of referrals and people who they meet on the job.

For all of the above mindsets, these individuals are still able to build relationships but in different capacities. 

What other mindsets can you think of?

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Comments

[Jim O'Donnell]

I just wrote a series comparing different kinds of networkers to different animals. I've entered the link to the first post in the series as my URL.

[Jason Jacobsohn]

Great series of posts Jim!