Confirmed - Networking Is Important

I had the pleasure of seeing a great presentation this weekend by Ken Blanchard (legendary author of The One Minute Manager, and dozens of other books), Margie Blanchard (wife of Ken, and one of the best professional speakers I have EVER seen), Scott Blanchard ("son of The One Minute Manager", and top tier speaker/author in his own right) and Madeleine Homan (Scott's wife and a national expert on the topic of business effectiveness and coaching).

They were in Austin to conduct a seminar for the Texas Chapters of the Entrepreneur's Organization. I volunteer to help a friend who was planning the conference so that I could have the chance to see the presentation, as Ken Blanchard has always been one of my favorite authors/speakers, and was an inspiration to me in the creation of my own books.

It was well worth my time. They were very inspiring in their message, and are an amazingly nice family. The Ken Blanchard Companies has over 25 years of teaching workplace learning, productivity, and leadership solutions. They have been at the leading edge of business consulting since before consulting was cool.

A key point they delivered to their audience was when Scott asked the crowd "What is the number one most important trait a successful entrepreneur needs to possess?". The crowd was composed of highly successful business owners, and they all had ideas: being a risk taker, persistence, integrity, clear vision, leadership, hard work, financial skills, sales skills, etc...

The answer was that "a successful entrepreneur needs to have the ability to create and leverage a network that will assist the business owner in the execution of his vision". Nobody can be successful by themselves.

That is a big thumbs up to the importance of networking.

I agree, and it goes beyond just entrepreneurs. Everyone needs to have a network. Anyone can achieve more in their personal and professional life if they have other people who believe in them.

Quit making excuses and trying to ignore the importance of cultivating your network. Start today to give credit to those around you, build real relationships and to expand your circle. While the benefits of your networking efforts will take time to materialize, doing nothing will get you nowhere.

If you ever get a chance to see one or more of the Blanchards give a talk, I highly recommend that you attend. They were great!

Have A Great Day.

thom
thom@thomsinger.com