You can learn a lot about networking by watching fish
Did you ever watch minnows? They can be in a five gallon bucket or a 500 acre lake and they still have a 3 gallon comfort zone. Sometimes they will be in a group with other minnows and explore a few more cubic feet of water. The only thing that really gets them out of their comfort zone is a big hungry fish. As soon as that big fish is gone, they go right back to their comfort zone.
Medium sized fish are no better. Only one out of a hundred minnows grows up to be a middling sized fish. They live in an area about 20 feet by 20 feet in size. He defends that territory and refuses to leave unless a bigger fish chases him out. It doesn’t matter if he is in a backyard pond or Lake Superior. He lives in a 20’x 20’ area.
Forget the size of your personal pond. How big of an area do you live in? Is your influence limited by the size of the pond you are in….or by your comfort zone?
Now look at your job search. Do the big fish scare you? Do you stay away from them because you don’t think YOU are worth their time?
Big fish won’t eat you. If you talk to someone too important, they won’t take your car from you. If you ask a really important person for help they never send for an armed guard to drag you to the dungeon and beat you.
So why do you stay in your 3 gallons of water? …or your 20’ x 20’ kingdom?
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Something To Do Today
In your job journal write down the limits of your pond. How big is the company where you work or last worked? How many companies use people with your skills? How many countries use people with your skills? The size of your pond is limited by the number of places you would work and your skills, not the size of the department you are in.
Later: The rudest people I met as a missionary.
and: I really saw a crab do this!