The art of networking

Last night I went to see the principal of a college to congratulate her on moving into a new house and also for a New Year wish. Me and my wife had a great time where in we talked to this lady and for the first time got to meet her husband. We spent about 2 hrs and felt that now our relationship with this lady principal has improved a lot and moved beyond mere professional level. Come to think of improvement in the relations, sometime back we approached this lady principal and she was kind of brusque and we thought that she is not very get along type. The meeting yesterday changed all that. Not only is she warm and cordial but very good by heart and we could know all this because we continued our relationship and didn’t give up and slowly she also got comfortable with us. Through this experience we felt that networking is a slow process and it take a long time for the relations to develop and nurture. Time and again I have felt that relations are fruitful when they move beyond just professionalism and get more personal.

In India networking is not a very well developed art and still looked down upon. Getting a job through networking is not considered ethical and is frowned upon. The case in US is exactly opposite. Most of the jobs come through networking.

After having done my MBA from US, and working in the corporate sector for more than nine years, I know that some people are smarter than others at getting things done. Now, I understand that the source of their effectiveness is their networking and relations building skills. Being an entrepreneur, I have realized that almost 99% of any business is about networking. However the process is laborious and time consuming but it is worth the effort. The networking is also all about proactiveness. The people who are proactive and are not afraid to make a blind call are good at connecting with others. The biggest stumbling block on the road to network is to have an inflated ego. Good networkers never have big ego and are always down-to-earth people.
If I were to write five ways to network I would say, in order of preference

1. Never Judge a person in the first meeting
2. Always initiate the calling process or make that call that you have been postponing for so long.
3. Do not expect big result in the first or second meeting but let the time take its course
4. Always have genuine interest in people and their work
5. Listen attentively

In India, unfortunately, networking is not something that is taught in school and colleges…though it should be. It is surprising that even b-school do not have any structured classes or curriculum on the benefits of networking. One probable reason may be that b-schools in India are churning out job-seekers and not wealth creators or entrepreneurs. The job seekers always think that it the duty of the college to get them a job. Training and placement officers should call the companies and network with them and not the students. This mindset has to change and the young people should learn this great art of networking. It is not only about MBA or about any particular career but in almost every possible sphere of life, networking can be put to great use. If not use, it is always nice to have someone to talk to and share ideas and opinions. We humans are social animal and to live in a society we have to learn the art of socializing and be adept at it to be successful. When Mahabharata was destined to take place, Sri Krishna said to Arjuna to go and seek the blessing of every possible king. He asked Pandavas to send ambassadors to all the Janpadas to network and invite the kings to fought from their side. Networking is an old and useful art and will never loose its shine.

KNOWLEDGE IS DIVINE

“Great are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force,

that thoughts rule the world.”

                                                                                                Ralph Waldo Emerson

The world we live in was made little by little and behind it lies the knowledge garnered over ages by countless men and women. These were the people who continuously strived to make this world a better place to live in. Bit by bit, we have, over countless centuries, unfolded the mysteries around us and used the ubiquitous knowledge to improve our lives. Without this sustained effort and constant hunger for knowledge we would be living in wilderness, wearing skin and eating raw flesh.

All the above wouldn’t have been possible without constant hunger for knowledge. For the mankind, knowledge has opened many doors, may it be the doors of comfort by building machines and robots or may it be knowing oneself. By constantly striving hard we have made our life comfortable. However the ultimate goal of the knowledge is not to amass comforts but built lasting peace and happiness and this is not possible without knowledge and spirituality entwined. The moment we are at peace with ourselves, we shall be at peace with others and then true happiness will follow and pervade the society. But this is easier said than done as it involves a constant process of reinventing ourselves. The process of reinventing will not happen by merely reading books and  passing certain exams and courses. Unfortunately, knowledge today is synonym either with literacy or passing off of various exams and having a successful career. The process of reinvention will roll in only when society will emphasize on gathering wisdom rather than amassing data. In the process of this collection and analysis of data, the knowledge has lost its divinity and is no longer a path towards redemption or salvation.

First of all we will have to ask whether knowledge is merely a means to get a job and learn few subjects or learn to read or write. We are yet to know that the true attainment of knowledge has nothing to do with getting a job. The ultimate aim of knowledge is to know oneself and through that attains the peace and happiness. The ultimate aim is to be one with the God.

Knowledge should lead to wisdom as wisdom is the essence of life but these days people seek knowledge, not wisdom. Knowledge is of the past, wisdom is of the future.

Just as the ocean rises up as waves, true consciousness rises up with the help of true knowledge and the true knowledge is attained when a person constantly strives for it. Knowledge is beyond written words and can’t merely be attained by learning to read or write though it may be the first step towards attaining the divinity or enlightenment.

As liquor is able to make one see all sorts of phantoms in the empty sky, similarly, the deluded mind is able to make one see diversity in the unity. Just as a drunkard person sees objects moving, the ignorant (without knowledge) one sees movement in this world. Only through the knowledge can one discern between good and bad, right and wrong. In fact, knowledge is the only salvation in this world full of confusion and mirage. But this knowledge is more than few words in ink.

The great teachings unanimously emphasize that all the peace, wisdom, and joy in the universe are already within us; we don’t have to gain, develop, or attain them. We’re like a child standing in a beautiful park with his eyes shut tight. We don’t need to imagine trees, flowers, deer, birds, and sky; we merely need to open our eyes and realize what is already here, who we really are — as soon as we quit pretending we’re small or unholy.

This intuition of knowing oneself will come through knowledge and wisdom but before that we will have to understand that knowledge without wisdom is a process of piling up facts. Wisdom lies in the simplification but unfortunately we are great at making things complicated. Our offices, our government, our laws and regulations – all are working towards making things complicated instead of the other way round. Instead of making knowledge a weapon to fight off ignorance, we are making it a shield to hide our in-competencies and corrupt attitudes. In our society knowledge has lost its divinity but has become a dangerous weapon in the hands of babu’s and beaurocrats who are misusing it.

But  I have always believed that imagination is stronger than knowledge, that myth is more potent that history. I believe that dreams are more powerful than facts, that hope always triumphs over experience, that laughter is the only cure for grief, and above all, love is stronger than death.  In the end I remember these lines by a famous poet 

                                  “Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we   have lost in information.”                                     

                                                                          – T.S. Eliot

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