Contacts:
How important is acquiring and maintaining new contacts in business? It's no secret that it's very important, so where to start and how to prepare?
First of all, although networking is less talked about nowadays, it has not ceased to be less important. Those who use it efficiently gain a lot. This translates into real numbers and hence considerable earnings. Mentoring is a related idea that can be used as a help in getting contacts and self-development.
Searching and maintaining contacts with people allows broadening horizons and acquiring new knowledge.
Imagine that once a week you go to a corporate meeting, where you get to know 2-3 people who can later change into partners, clients, employers – that's about 150 contacts a year!
How to start?
The choice of events is so large that it should not be a problem. You need to set a goal and prepare well, do research and prepare questions. Finding a mentor is a good way
to be in the environment we care about. A person who is better than us, has more contacts, trusts us and is able to confirm our skills, will be very helpful in introducing us to a new environment in which we do not yet have social trust.
What is mentoring and how to use it?
Mentoring is a relationship: between protégé and master. It consists mainly in ensuring that the protégé, through regular conversations with the master, acquires new knowledge, gets to know him or her, develops professional self-awareness and is not afraid to follow the chosen path of self-fulfilment.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentorship
With such a relationship it is much easier for us to fit into a new environment. Such a mentor can be a kind of incubator that will introduce us to a new, foreign world and help us to adapt to.
How to choose a mentor?
We have to choose a person who we have a real chance of contacting. Someone who is an example for us and at the same time is better than us, has more experience and knowledge in the field that we care about most. He has connections and revolves in an environment we focus on.
Mentor should be:
- open minded,
- kind,
- available,
- better than us,
- has time and willingness to teach and help.
If we approach the topic properly, such a mentor can introduce us to exactly the environment we care about. If we develop a lasting relationship with a mentor who will trust us, such mentor will gladly recommend us as professionals in a given field.
