Networking: You Hate It Right? Here’s Why

Do you recognize the classic acronym ‘WIIFM’? If not, it stands for ‘What’s In It For Me?’ and suggests that we make decisions based on the impending value we may gain. Rather than try to refute this, what I’d like to do is upend the way we perceive value.

When I ask people, “What does the term ‘networking’ mean to you?”, I tend to get a variety of answers, many of which boil down to something that is taker-oriented, self-serving, and oddly dirty.

But it’s my hypothesis that this overwhelmingly accepted definition of ‘networking’ came to be because the way people act in association with the word ‘networking’ is wrong, and in many cases dirty. But at its core design, it’s not. It’s human, it’s about connection, and it’s about growing together in community by sharing ideas and resources.

Maybe this doesn’t resonate with you and you’re thinking something like, “Who cares? I don’t need to network anyway.” Or, “I’m good with my network as it stands,” or “I don’t have time to build this type of hokey network, I have goals to hit and dollars to make.”

Cool. I can see why you might feel like that. But thanks to the oft-quoted professor, researcher, and author Adam Grant, if you’re not a giver in relationships, you’re setting yourself up to be less successful (read his book, he explains it well through…