People Power: How to Create a Lifetime Network for Business, Career, and Personal Advancement - Softcover

Fisher, Donna

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1885167113 ISBN 13: 9781885167118

Publisher: Bard Press, 1995

Synopsis

Offers fresh insights and practical advice about successful networking.

About this title

About the Author

Donna Fisher is a nationally known authority on networking whose dynamic platform style makes her a much sought after motivational speaker and trainer. She is the founder and owner of Discovery Seminars of Houston, a training firm specializing in programs that inspire and educate people to take positive action in their lives, and the co-author of Power Networking: 55 Secrets for Personal and Professional Success, a bestselling favorite among business professionals in a broad range of industries.

Prior to forming her company, Donna held positions in sales, marketing, and management with Exxon, McDonnell Douglas Automation Company, and the Houston Center for Attitudinal Healing. Today, she conducts corporate trainings and keynote presentations internationally on topics ranging from business development to communication and interpersonal skill building to developing personal and professional networks and support systems. She has trained top and middle management, sales and marketing staff, and support personnel for Fortune 500 companies as well as small businesses.

She lives in Houston, Texas.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter One: Realizing the Richness of Your Networks

Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much. Helen Keller

Stop and think for a moment. What do the following things have in common?

Your first job The last movie you saw Your most important business deal Your car Your accountant Your spouse or lover The last book you read The biggest decision you ever made about your health Your auto mechanic Your special vacation spot Your attorney Your computer Your favorite restaurant Your present job Your physician

The answer is people. Most of us make both important and everyday life choices because of other people. It is almost always another person who tells us about a great job opening, raves about a favorite getaway spot, or introduces us to a special person. When you need an attorney, a physician, or an accountant, a good mechanic, or some advice about which computer to buy, you call on someone you know. The essential ingredient in networking is people. The power of people joining together because of a common purpose, a mutual goal, or a similar passion is instrumental in the growth and development of healthy, productive families, communities, businesses, organizations, and countries.

Your Lifetime Network

No matter what your career path or role in life, your ability to build a strong support system will be a key factor in your success. If youre in sales, the ability to build strong client relationships is instrumental in developing repeat business, new business, and referral business. If youre among the growing number of people starting their own businesses, your network will provide your most effective marketing tool. If you work in the corporate world, you need to create your own job security by building a support system of contacts. And if you are looking for a job, your personal and professional contacts will help you find that ideal job in a timely and efficient manner.

Networking is a lifelong process of meeting people, making contacts, developing friendships, and building professional relationships. Your network is unlimited. It includes people you grew up with, people you went to school with, family, friends, clients, neighbors, and co-workers. Networking has been around forever and always will be. But networking is very often misunderstood and misused. If youve been skeptical of networking, I ask you to take a fresh look. Take this opportunity to enhance your people power by developing a networking style that is consistent, gracious, and powerful.

This book outlines twelve power principles for a style of networking that exemplifies a natural desire to belong, to be part of a community, to have a support system, and to relate to others in a harmonious and mutually supportive manner. Once you have mastered these principles and know how to apply them in every aspect of your life, you will have a rich, powerful support system that you can call on anytime, for anything. The information, exercises, and stories in this book can assist you in starting, building, or enriching your network. It is up to you to take these ideas and implement them successfully.

The Path Before You

Everyone already networks to some degree. However, many people are networking dabblers. They network haphazardly, a little bit here and there. Sometimes it seems to work and sometimes it doesnt, but they dont really know how to improve their results. Maybe they dont realize that the way they ask for help turns people off. Or they expect immediate results and miss out on the long-range opportunities that are produced through persistence and consistency. Networking involves learning how and when to approach people, how and when to offer support, how and when to ask for help.

Many people who are truly masterful at networking do so in a very quiet, yet powerful, manner. Their interpersonal skills are so well tuned, their style is so natural, their approach is so graceful that you may have difficulty defining exactly why they are so effective at continually bringing in new business, making new friends, or finding new opportunities. The skills we use to interact, communicate, and relate to people are vital to our ability to function in the world, to have positive self-esteem, to adjust to changes and challenges in our lives.

Haphazard networking produces sporadic, short-lived results. Purposeful, consistent networking generates a support system that keeps on giving for a lifetime. You have the ability to develop a style of networking that produces consistent, long-lasting, and life-enhancing results. This book shows you how.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bard Press
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1885167113
• ISBN 13: 9781885167118
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 220