The golden triangle of networking

What is this mysterious and important “golden triangle”? Important indeed, but not that mysterious. In fact it is very simple, but you have to keep paying attention to it. And that’s why many people forget to reap the benefits of networking: they forget about practicing the golden triangle.

By now you are probably thinking: stop being vague and tell me: “What IS this golden triangle?”

Ok, here you go. These are the three aspects of the golden triangle:

• Offering
• Asking
• Thanking

This may be obvious, but there are but a few people who are really good at ALL three of them. Many people DO ask something from time to time and most of us aren’t that rude that we never thank other people when we got something from them. Offering something relevant (without spending too much time either !) is already a bit more difficult.

To be a successful networker and to keep the “networking engine” running, it is very important to focus on all three aspects. The reasons?

• If you don’t offer something to other people, they won’t keep doing things for you.
• If you don’t ask, you get the feeling that you are being used. Besides, if you don’t ask, you don’t give others the chance to help you.
• If you don’t thank others for the help they gave or the time they spent with you, the satisfaction of being connected with you, will slowly fade away.

The reasons mentioned are only the “demotivators” or “negative reasons”. They are definitely not the main reasons, but a place to start. In the next postings I will write about the positive aspects of each angle and give you some practical tips.

Have a great networking day !

Jan