Professional Networking - The game has changed

Recently, I gave a talk on Career Management to TexasMBA students as a part of Executive Speaker Series at the McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin. My Presentation can be found at http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dppnrzq_64hrzwf7fh

This week, I noticed I crossed 200 connections on Linked-in (http://www.linkedin.com/). I started this journey accepting an invitation from Tiffany Glass (http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=516663&authToken=KiYZ&authType=name) around 2004 and have been pretty selective about who I network with. This to me is a major milestone.

This milestone, coupled with current economic climate and the recent levels of activity in networking events, it is pretty clear to me - The game as we know how to look for the next career challenge has totally changed. My Take:

1. If you are not change agent then you are being changed. So, ask yourself - are you changing or are you trying avoid it. No one else but you can answer the question for yourself.


2. Networking is not about joining Linked-in or any professional networking site, it is all about presence and having a networking strategy. Ask the hard questions : Who is in your network and How do they fit in? When was the last time you actually had a meaningful conversation with some one on your network who is not a part of your daily work life or personal life?


3. Networking is not about quantity, it is about quality of your network. In a rush to network, do not try to grow/expand at the expense of quality. At the end of the day, Garbage in equates to Garbage out. So, if most of folks in your network are ones you have never spoken to in your life or have nothing in common or are just family and friends or are not aligned to your goals then question the value of your network or you may not achieve the benefits you were hoping for?
4. You need to spend time with it, just like you do with work, family and favorite past time. Professional networking should become a part of your life not just something you do because of a particular event or treat it as a one time event.

My Conclusion: Effective networking should result in you being Seeked not you Seeking Something, whether it is a Job or Assignment.

I want the thank Bill Fleming from McCombs Career Services for making me think about this subject and present to the students of 2010; Tiffany Glass, who introduced me to professional networking when the game was still changing; and folks in my Network, whose relationship I value.

Thanks

Nagesh

Note: The views represented in this blog are my personal views and are not a reflection of or opinions of any of the institutions I am associated with or have worked for.

Hope - Is it not a positive thing anymore?

All my life I have associated "Hope" to be a word that inspires positive thinking and feelings. Of-late I have started questioning it. Especially, when I listen to experts providing opinions on Marketplace (NPR), Yahoo! Finance etc. related to business, technology, economy and our future and the outcomes these statements are leading to.

So today, I went to my favorite dictionary "Wikipedia" to check the definition of "Hope". Here it is (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope):

"Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. Hope is the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. [1] To hope is to wish for something with the expectation of the wish being fulfilled, a key condition in unrequited love. [2] Hopefulness is somewhat different from optimism in that hope is an emotional state, whereas optimism is a conclusion reached through a deliberate thought pattern that leads to a positive attitude."

I read this over 10 times, and there was nothing negative about it. So why is my brain questioning the positivity of "Hope"?
Let's dive further...
Let’s analyze couple of common statements made which in my opinion were related to raising “Hope”, see what they mean and my take on those

1. “We are probably nearing a bottom”: This is statement that is supposed “Signal” the pain is almost over, however given where we are, the interpretation is: More Uncertainty, Market will go lower before it gets better. If the goal of this statement to provide hope to those in sidelines to get back in or for those who are in to not get out. --> It fails to achieve both.
   My Take: The reason experts like to make this statement, is that it does not commit them to one way or the other and hence the statement has no value. What we do not need is more uncertainty. Good or Bad, We need certainty. Hats off to folks like Warren Buffet, who took a definitive position, hopefully more of these experts do take a position than causing more uncertainty – Hopefully they realize “definitive opinions” is what they are paid to provide. Just as much as they believe bank executives have not done their job in the past, I believe these experts are not doing it today and that their opinions are worthless and more importantly by adding uncertainty they are causing more damage to economy than what the bank executives caused .
2. “Job loss was dismal (651,000 - Source: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm) but not as catastrophic as expected”: This statement is supposed to positive and provide hope that things look better than anticipated. However every imagery that surrounded the jobs reports was a Negative – A person with extra-ordinary needs loses a job, A factory shutting down, Companies Laying Off etc.
   My Take: This imagery destroys the positivity of any hope created by better than expected performance as our brain can easily remember and retrieve the image of person losing job or being laid off than the fact the numbers were better than expected. If the proven “Availability Heuristic” teaches us something, the imagery should have been of a person who actually found a job against all odds, inspiring us all to believe in Hope. Believe it or not, I was talking to colleague, whose son took up a sales job based where remuneration is 100% commission based. Hats off to him accept that job rather become 651,001. These are extra-ordinary circumstances we need stories which embody – “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”.

I am sure I can go-on with more examples but these two should provide view into my drift. So where did I Start “Hope – is it not a positive thing anymore?”

My Conclusion: There is nothing wrong with Hope. Hope is still all about “Positive Outcomes” and “Optimism”. However, In Hope in GOOD TIMES combined with uncertainty and availability of good imagery that is easily accessible lead to “Irrational Exuberance” whereas in BAD TIMES the same hope, combined with uncertainty and availability of bad imagery that is easily accessible leads to “Irrational Pessimism” and staying on sidelines in the hope of an even better opportunity. I guess this is what John Maynard Keynes referred to as “Animal Spirits” of Business People.

Thank you for taking the time to read.

Nagesh

Note: The views represented in this blog are my personal views and are not a reflection of or opinions of any of the institutions I am associated with or have worked for.