Business Networking and Sex - Ivan Misner [16]
“Sex sells, but it does not refer.”
We don’t have to all dress like nuns or softer versions of men, but we do have to dress in a manner such that if someone were to see us on the street, they could guess by our attire alone that we were about to attend a business-related function. There should be no guessing about that. Now let’s dig into the survey results in greater detail.
CHAPTER 2
Men and Women, So Much in Common, But Such Different Perspectives and Motivators
The Survey Says...
Has Networking Played a Role in Your Success?
One of the first questions we asked the respondents was whether networking was an integral part of their success. More than 91 percent said “yes” (see Figure 2.1 on page 26). Ninety-one percent is practically a tidal wave of agreement. When was the last time you remember 91 percent of businesspeople agreeing on anything? The united front they created by agreeing so heartily on this one question was overwhelming, and a critical impetus for the creation of this book. Networking is critical to the success of businesspeople all over the world.
FIGURE 2.1—Has Networking Played a Role in Your Success?
A few months ago, I had lunch with the president of a Southern California university and the dean of its affiliated business school. We spoke of many things, but the president specifically asked for my recommendation for ways the business school could better teach its students. I didn’t even have to think about it. I told him to start teaching classes on networking, social capital, and emotional intelligence.
We give people bachelor’s degrees in marketing, business, and even entrepreneurship, but we teach them hardly anything about the one subject that virtually every businessperson says is critically important—networking.
When he asked me why, I told him that the most thriving entrepreneurs credit their gains to networking, referrals, and investments in building personal relationships. Additionally, the key factors to successful networking interactions are social capital and emotional intelligence. In other words, successful businesspeople are dedicated to building personal relationships, have keen emotional intelligence skills (or develop them), and networking perseverance.
Wealth Beyond Measure
What exactly is emotional intelligence? You may have heard that term loosely thrown around a lot lately as researchers are speedily discovering its importance, even beyond IQ, to predict a person’s success in life. Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify, read, assess, and control one’s own emotions, as well as a keen awareness of the emotions of others. A high emotional intelligence quotient gives the ultimate power of connection and improves communication in all facets of life.
IQ, EQ, AND SOCIAL CAPITAL
People may get hired because of their intelligence quotient (IQ), but they get promoted because of their emotional quotient (EQ). Social capital is resources that are developed through personal and professional relationships.
The wealth of discovery unearthed every day about emotional quotient and social capital is astounding. Great strides are being made as sociologists, psychologists, and scientists find links tying personal and professional success, and even physical health, to highly developed EQs and well-developed social capital.
I told the dean how important these facets are to completing a solid business education and asked why they aren’t being offered in the curriculums of business schools everywhere. Both the president and the dean looked at one another and then the dean replied haughtily, “My professors would never teach that material here. It’s all soft science.”
Excuse me? We send budding business students out into the tooth-and-nail world of business without what virtually every entrepreneur says is one of the most important elements of success? We give bachelor’s degrees in marketing, business, and even entrepreneurship