9 Tips for Authentic, “Uplifting” Networking
I had an amazing lunch about six weeks ago, surrounded by dozens and dozens of mostly female entrepreneurs at a networking event. Prior to joining this organization I had no idea that so many women have small businesses…
I am seeing many passionate women, all attempting to get their message uniquely understood and valued by their counterparts.
Women Seem to Love Being Entrepreneurs
Lifting each other up is one of the major themes during these meetings. This is a natural human tendency when consciousness/self-awareness leads our choices, and our heart genuinely drives our interactions with one another.
However when self-awareness and consciousness is lacking then, such a theme can force us to be fake.
We all know that a “rule” does not necessarily mean it is our truth.
Rules Don’t Necessarily Help Us to be Honest
Relationships by nature are not capable of flourishing based on pretense… but the pretense we experience within ourselves is the most difficult to bear!
After all, “who are we kidding ultimately”?
This is the relationship that most matters in our life and the one that helps us to navigate our way into feeling whole.
We can’t run away from the truth we feel inside… the truth that nags when we slow down, and we find ourselves in the confines of our own space. Our fears, our jealousies, our comparisons, our judgments, and our insecurities never shy away.
They are absolutely natural.
We Can’t Hide from Ourselves!
The women who are heart-connected genuinely stand out and ooze a good feel factor, whilst others can leave an absence of presence even in their limited conversations.
As I watched everyone, I felt the pressure that some were under, the pressure to get a pitch shared accurately, the pressure to offer something free just to be noticed or to be able to make a connection for a future sale.
The fear and pressure around cash flow issues in some, the pressure of their hidden marketing agenda accompanied with the associated pretense on the surface, was obvious in some.
Landing a Perfect Pitch Can Be a Strain
In my heart I felt sad seeing the strain these people were under, and sad at seeing how entrepreneurial life is a tough road to navigate.
At times marketing edicts can become forms of manipulating customers into buying from us. We are at these events to serve, and to help to make a difference in someone else’s life. That has to stay our primary focus, but things can get ugly for us, if our business is not flowing, and our innocence is lost.
Let’s Not Make Marketing a Form of Manipulation.
I’ve had time to reflect on this, and wanted to share a few tips and insights about networking and lifting each other up in the process.
- Be Honest With Yourself! This is a form of lifting, because it acts as a great start point. I recently noticed that entrepreneurial life felt like a hustle. This was such a healthy internal observation because it gave me a chance to step back and take stock.
- Be Your Own Best Friend and Be Kind to Yourself. Even if you see flaws, know that you are only a work-in-progress and that with efforts made to know yourself, you can evolve out of your limiting beliefs.
- Recognize Your Own Gifts and Your “Why”! Use that to stay anchored as your “first” lift of the networking event. This way, you are more likely to be grounded and confident, and your authenticity will always show.
- When You Speak, Just “Be” Your Natural SelfThis serves you a lot more than a word perfect pitch. We are human after all!
- Look For The Strengths and Passion in OthersThese traits help to build trust and inevitably help in relationship building.
- Feel the situation and follow your gut/intuitionWords that flow from your gut serve more than your marketing edict- however smart we try to be, we can always sense an uneasiness when we are being sold to, so avoid the practiced jargon.
- Lift Others ONLY if it Feels Genuine in Your HeartFaking is worse than saying nothing.
- Watch Your Own Insecurities in NetworkingMake a commitment to yourself to transform insecurities, so that you move onwards and upwards after each event.
- Have Fun!
I hope you enjoy your next networking event and find life-long friends in the process.
If you want to know how to eliminate any of the internal insecurities that might surface for you, feel free to reach out.
I am more than happy to assist you using the amazing new modality called the Dalian Method. Revered by many clients as a firecracker, proving to be a life-changer, this technique can be self-practiced, speeding our ability to claim our self worth and power.
About the Author, Kindi Gill ACA
Kindi is a former CEO who offers Self-Awareness Executive Coaching, teaches principles of Consciousness and specializes in Change & Mental Health as a Professional Speaker.
Kindi has been a student of the Dalian School for Health and Consciousness and is a Facilitator of the Self Healing Dalian Method, an evolutionary tool for Transformation. Kindi has shared this system with hundreds of people, since founding Spark Expansion Consulting in 2015, and without fail, adults, teenagers and children delight in their changes.
Call Kindi at 778-558-5110 for help in getting your business and personal life back on track to achieve its natural full potential or visit www.www.InwardLeadership.com for her free leadership report.
