Capital

People give to people

A few weeks ago I attended a recruitment event hosted by a respected consulting firm, Bain and Co., and there was a comment that the presenters said that really struck me. First of all, they said that once someone has worked with them for two years, they would pay for that employee to go to graduate school and do a Master's Degree. Then someone asked they would pay so much money for just one employee to go to a graduate school. An obvious reason would be to get a better-trained employee who would have a better performance at the end of the education. However, that is not the first reason they gave for such a huge investment. The speaker told us that their employees would meet the future clients of the firm in graduate schools. One of the reasons they pay for their employees to go to do a Master's Degree is so that they can network. Why do firms like Bain and Co. value networking so much? And what exactly do we mean by networking?
We deal with people on a daily basis. Everything we do has an input from a human being, directly or indirectly. When we want to buy something we bargain with people, when we want to borrow money we talk to bankers, when we want a job done we delegate work to employees, when we want jobs we approach employers. Other people play huge roles in our daily lives, actually more than we think they do. Sometimes we want to do things on our own, but we still deal with people. When you apply to a university, there isn't an entity called "X University" that decides whether you should get in or not; it is an admission committee that sits down and discusses your application. When you want a job, it isn't a computer that decides who gets the job or not, it is the people who evaluate your past experience and either get impressed or bored during an interview with you. If you impress the employer then your chances of getting the job are quite high. I sometimes see people as the real currency in our world today. At the end of the day, whatever you get, be it money from the bank or a donation or a job, it is people who give it to you. One might have all the qualifications in the world, but if an employer isn't impressed then he/she is less likely of getting that job. People give to people. We hold assets like houses and cars and investments and money. All of these are very valuable assets, but the most valuable assets in the world today are people.
We hear of the word "networking" a lot, and for a long time I have had a negative impression of networking as it seems like by networking we are using people. It seemed to treat people like objects and use them when we want to. But more lately I started seeing it differently. Networking is not going to cocktail parties and getting other people's business cards, or meeting people with the intent of sucking treasures out of them. In the broadest way, I see networking as a means of getting the trust and confidence of people. When someone has confidence in you then that person will be able to put some of their asset at your disposal, or that person will be able to trust you more with a job, or have faith in you to grant you what you wish, or even start a friendly relationship with you. Networking is more than just knowing someone; it is the exchange of trust with someone else.
So if people are the most important assets, then how do we get people to become our assets? For this question, there aren't one or two answers. The answer is: it depends. Every circumstance is different, but it all comes down to trust and confidence. It starts with taking interest in the people around you: your colleagues, your fellow students, your subordinates and employees, your bosses, your neighbors, people you interact with on a daily basis. Taking interest in their individuality, in who they are rather than just what they have is an approach that can get you a good network of people. Sometimes we see someone who is very trusted by others that those people would be willing to make big sacrifices for that person. The more interest you take in the individuality of the people around you, the more you win their trust. The greatest people in history like Mandela and Gandhi gained so much trust from others that they had followers who were willing to die for them and their beliefs. One of the big reasons why Gandhi and Mandela gained so much trust is because they took huge interest in the people. People are the makers and breakers of rules and laws, they are the ones who print money and own money, and they create jobs and run schools. Getting the trust and confidence or someone gives you a VIP pass to win their friendship, and even help you benefit from their power and belongings. People are the real currency in our world today.

Yoseph can be reached at askyoseph@gmail.com