This is really provoking, Bradley, in all the best ways. As I’ve gotten older and more seasoned, I’ve tried to be more intentional with whom I’d like to meet rather than taking a call or a meeting for meeting’s sake. Value travels both ways.
If someone views networking as transactional, I’m guessing they’d be disappointed if a promising connection stalled. They had an agenda. People who genuinely like people show up at an event, or anywhere really, with an openness that invites all kinds of possibility. Finding those people is everything.
I think the fact that you delete cold emails answers the question and proves how essential networking is (I say this as a fellow anti-joiner)
This is really provoking, Bradley, in all the best ways. As I’ve gotten older and more seasoned, I’ve tried to be more intentional with whom I’d like to meet rather than taking a call or a meeting for meeting’s sake. Value travels both ways.
I think what’s interesting is how much advice around networking assumes the room itself is neutral.
A lot of these spaces aren’t broken because people don’t prepare.
They’re broken because everyone arrives performing for an opportunity that may not actually exist in that room.
The anxiety isn’t social but rather structural.
If someone views networking as transactional, I’m guessing they’d be disappointed if a promising connection stalled. They had an agenda. People who genuinely like people show up at an event, or anywhere really, with an openness that invites all kinds of possibility. Finding those people is everything.
Love hearing about founders with new ideas on how to bring AI into the politics industry