I saw a video on networking today, by Gary Vaynerchuk, where he talks about networking for introverts. It points a finger to something I’ve been experiencing for myself — mingles and networking events don’t really work for me and I’ve struggled to voice how my network has grown to the size it is.
A friend described it as when I enter a room full of people that I don’t know, I can introduce myself with the phrase “I’m Caspian and we’ve got common friends.”.
What Gary points out, and what I can relate to in that is how some of us just don’t want to be in crowds of people we don’t know, trying to get to know them. My biggest networking strategy has been to get to work with people. To have deep conversations in smaller groups. Because that’s where I’m comfortable, that’s where I can provide value.
That’s ultimately what you’ll have to think about. Where can you create the most value for someone else? In what situations can you get the most out of yourself, and possibly elevate someone else?
With that being said, I know that I’d like to be able to network in mingles and such as well. I know that my way of getting to know people might be an excuse not to try other ways. There’s always the “or not” factor.