Networking-A Spiritual Approach

Translate Request has too much data
Parameter name: request
Translate Request has too much data
Parameter name: request

Eight Keys
1.Use the LIGHT often when networking.
2.Networking is based in service.
3.Success comes with clarity of purpose.
4.Resource your intuition.
5.Network with people you like.
6.A networking base of 100 people opens a magic door.
7.Determine the network you do have.
8.Networking is a journey, God will deliver.
Using the LIGHT when Networking
The LIGHT stands for LIVING IN GOD'S HOLY THOUGHTS. Sending the LIGHT to someone is the same as asking God to bless them.
When networking, send the LIGHT to the people you are about to approach. Send the LIGHT to your communication with them. If you are about to send an e-mail to someone, ask that the LIGHT be placed with the e-mail. If you are about to telephone someone, ask that the LIGHT be sent ahead to your upcoming phone call. If you are talking face to face, send the LIGHT often. God's energy will then fill surround and protect them and your communication with them.
Place all your networking communications in the LIGHT and do this for the highest good. We ask for the highest good because the LIGHT is a blessing from God, and it is God's will that we seek. In asking for the highest good, we are invoking God's will, not our will. Use the LIGHT often.
Networking as Service
At its highest form, networking is service. Each time we venture forth and connect with a person, we are bringing a blessing of peace to the planet. Networking with a generous heart is a spiritual action which brings a gift of expansion to all those who participate.
As you go about asking people for contacts and support, you might wonder how you are serving them. You serve them by sending them the LIGHT. You serve them by approaching them in a caring and thoughtful manner. You serve them by giving them the opportunity to serve you. For as one serves others, the universe will serve them.
We all have a networking frequency that is based on our giving and receiving. If one's networking is all about receiving, the frequency can not go very high. We build the frequency up by both giving and receiving. At some point, a natural flow occurs. The giving and receiving all becomes one. Grace starts to enter into the process. Miracles occur.
So networking is not about awkwardness, it is about serving. The more we give, the more we open to receive. As the giving and receiving flows from us, God smiles on us and blesses us.
How I got a Job with the World Cup
In 1994 the World Cup (the international soccer tournament that happens every four years) was coming to the States. I wanted very much to work for the World Cup. My grandfather had been a well-known soccer umpire in Germany. I played the game in high school and college. In previous years, I had watched the World Cup on the Spanish television network and even though the only word I could understand was GOAL, I greatly enjoyed the telecasts.
My strategy for getting a job was as follows: I would get to know the staff at the World Cup and I would SERVE them until they hired me.
The first thing I did was volunteer for a special event the World Cup was holding in New York City. I volunteered as early as possible. As it turned out, by doing so, I had much more contact with the World Cup staff than I would have otherwise.
In the summer of 1992, I got a job working on the Summer Olympics in Barcelona. I would be a ticket manager for one of the sponsors. The company I worked for had ordered thousands of excess tickets so I invited the World Cup executives to the Barcelona Games. I told them that it would be my pleasure to provide them with tickets. Two separate groups of World Cup executives and managers came to Barcelona and utilized tickets, including the CEO.
Several months afterwards, I was offered a position with the World Cup as a Director in Ticketing. The combination of networking and service clearly created this job for me.
Success Comes with Clarity of Purpose
When your clarity is vague, networking is seldom successful. When your clarity is 100% crystal clear, networking is seldom unsuccessful.
When your clarity is vague, people will not respond to your networking requests. When your clarity is sharp, people are compelled to respond to your networking requests.
Clarity can be created by the techniques mentioned in this book: treasure maps, ideal scenes and seeding. Networking can also enhance clarity. As we talk and question people, we start to tune into what we like and what we don't like.
Resource Your Intuition
Intuition can make networking easy. Your intuition can tell you whom to contact. It can also tell you how to contact them and when to contact them. For example, when I first set about to get this book published, I put together a list of about 15 people I knew who were somehow related to the publishing field. My intuition told me to contact only one person (J.G.) and to contact her via e-mail in three weeks.
Why would I wait three weeks? There is a concept called: "God's timing," which I try to adhere to by listening inside. In God's timing (not my timing) there is greater alignment with Spirit. So often, when I engage in the activities of my life, I ask, "What is God's timing?"
By resourcing your intuition, you can bypass a lot of unnecessary effort. In the end, networking is qualitative, not quantitative. It's not about how many people we contact; it is about the quality of each contact we make. Intuition brings great precision to the process of networking.
Developing one's intuition requires time and practice. You can seed and send the light towards the expansion of your intuition. You can write down questions and place them under your pillow at night such as; "Who do I network with?" Being aware that all the answers rest inside of us is significant progress toward opening to one's intuition.
Networking with Individuals
One of the nice things about networking is that you never have to network with people you don't like. Why? Because networking with people we don't like seldom or never works. Along these lines, one of the best sources for networking is our friends. Our friends often know of someone in the very company or industry that we are trying to enter. Our friends can connect us to where we want to go.
Networking with people we don't know can be daunting. (I often like to ease the path by writing a letter before actually speaking with them.) The number one key in communicating with a stranger is to be clear in your purpose. Your purpose should ring out strongly in your letter or communication.
Secondly, be specific. Mention the people you know that they know. Mention your own specific successes that might interest them. Mention specific work or successes that the individual has been involved with. Communicate to people about what they do and what they care about. Let your words vibrate with caring and thoughtfulness.
Networking via an Organization
To be a successful networker, you need to know and have access to a certain quantity of people. This is your networking base of contacts. The ideal networking base is a minimum of 100 people. These people are willing and able to support you in your networking endeavors. These people are able to support you in at least one of two ways, through contacts or through prayer/spiritual support.
Why 100 people? 100 is a number of transformation, as in the concept of the 100th monkey. The concept behind the 100th monkey is that when 100 people or monkeys learn a new behavior, this new behavior quickly travels throughout the rest of the population. When that 100th monkey learns the new behavior, it is like a magic door has been opened. When we develop 100 (or more) solid contacts, a magic door opens up. A magnifier affect occurs with our networking, it's not like we just know 100 people, it's like we know 10,000 people or it's like we know everyone. The universe rewards us for our perseverance, and a new expanse of the universe opens up to us. The journey on our career path becomes more dynamic.
Networking is about going forth in the world in a caring manner. If you do not know 100 people, it is recommended that you go forth in the world and network with greater effort. Another reason is mathematical, if you know 100 people who each know 100 people who each know 100 people, etc.; you begin having access to a large number of people.
Do you need 100 people to have a satisfying career? No. Creating this contact base will, however, accelerate your career process and bring forward a joyful expansion.
The easiest way to create your base is through affiliation with others in some kind of group or organization. The best organizations for this are religious/spiritual ones and organizations that do service. People in these groups are often caring, thoughtful, committed to service and, thereby, often good networkers themselves. For example, when I was a member of Big Brothers, I wrote Roy Disney, who was on their board of directors, and he set me up with an interview at the Walt Disney Company.
By getting involved with such groups, you can increase your giving into the world, uplift your life and realize your 100-person minimum. As people living in the modern world, we have a lot on our plate - this is called practical spirituality.
Determine Your Support Network
Most people underestimate their support network. I recently asked a person how many people she had to support her, and she said nobody. I happened to know that she belonged to a spiritual group where she knew at least 50 people. In addition, she did service and had contacts there. She had friends at work and from former jobs.
To emerge above the 100 number threshold, you need to know what your starting point is. You also need to acknowledge who you already have to support you so you can utilize them when appropriate.
There are just so many ways that we can and have created useful contacts in our lives: friends, friends of our friends, people from work and previous jobs, our neighbors, high school and college colleagues, people our parents know and/or spouse knows, organizations that we participate in, religious institutions, spiritual groups, our favorite vendors and service people, people we have met at parties and other gatherings, etc.
It's advised that you create a list of names with a total number. Until you have reached the magic 100 number mark, it's important to know where you are at. As you proceed in your networking adventures, it's important to know who you have close at hand to support you.
Networking is a Sacred Journey
When we partner with God, networking becomes a sacred journey, full of surprises. There is no telling who we will meet up with. We will meet people who will be of tremendous service to us and people who we will be of tremendous service to. We will meet great friends. We will encounter fun people, loving people, creative people and people who can really cook. It becomes such a delight.