I am sitting here doing my monthly article reading. I pour through dozens of interesting (and a few not so interesting) business articles to find interesting content to write about. Well, here on Harvard Business Review I’m reading about how dangerous it is to assume your career is safe. I think it is dangerous to assume anything is safe. In this world, nothing is constant except change — and my Guru says we have to wait for change!
But, your best business contacts may not be who you think they are. Your family, close friends, schoolmates, and close associates at work might not be your best contacts. In a sense it is unpredictable who your best contacts are, and one may be great at one point in your career while another might be good at another time.
It is often the case that your best business contacts are people who you have known for years, but with weak ties. Maybe a customer who you had slightly longer and more interesting conversations with, or a vendor’s assistant who was a little more knowledgeable or interesting. That winning connection could be anyone. Perhaps it pays to keep a database of your interesting connections and try to develop slightly less weak ties with them. You never know what could happen. I met some of the most interesting industry related people I know on Twitter. Unfortunately, they were anti-social and the relationships didn’t last. Maybe I should go back to hanging around at coffee houses — those coffee house types never get tired of yapping with me!
You might also like:
My favorite business dream was about lions and giraffes
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2016/01/23/the-best-business-dream-i-ever-had-was-about-lions-giraffes/
Steve Jobs Principle — the more people you network with outside your field
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/08/28/outsource-steve-jobs-principle-the-more-people-you-network-w-outside-your-field/
You don’t get to the next level in business by being in a hurry
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/11/13/you-dont-get-to-the-next-level-in-business-by-being-in-a-hurry/