Build Relationships!

Happy Thanksgiving! We have a tradition on Thanksgiving where we go around our table and give thanks to the things that our important to us. For the most part, EVERY one of these "thanks" was for a relationship. Mostly family in this case but I named my friend/mentor Dan H.

I've know Dan for 11 years or so. We've been trying to work together again since 2001. It finally happened in October. Relationships are critical. You can't wait until you are out of job to decide you need to nurture your network. You have to nurture your network because you can add value to it and the people in it.

Continuing to comment on Rajesh Setty's Making the Most of Your Time manifesto, he devotes a section to building long-term relationships. Raj says:

• It is not what you know, but who you know


• It is not just who you know, but how you know who you know


• It is just not who you know; it is who knows and cares about you

He goes on to provide a few key tips to tend to the care and feeding of your network:

• Keep growing


• Create more opportunities as compared to the requests you make.


• Forget about short-term results


• Relationship building is not an automatic process


• Be a piece in many puzzles.

Remember kids, 1,000 connections don't mean a thing if you can't get anyone to take your call. I've actually been going through my connections and DELETING some of them. Linkedin is a tool. It is not the end state. Linkedin helps me visualize my network. Not just names in a CRM or outlook or in my case with my new gig...Lotus Notes....shiver.