One power of leverage is contacts. Knowing the right people, and being known by them, wills open doors for you that will save you years of hard work. The quality and quantity of your contacts and your relationships will have more to do with your success than perhaps any other factor. Knowing one person at the right time and place can change the course of your life.
Here are three things you can do to expand your list of contacts. First, make a list of the 25 people, locally or nationally, you feel it would be most useful for you to get to know. Develop a strategy to meet each one of them over the next 12 months. Then make a list of 25 more.
List the people who head up the major corporations who would be useful for you to know. List the mayor, your congressman, and your senator. List the important people that it would be helpful for you to know and then make a plan to get to meet them.
The second way to expand your contacts is to network at every opportunity. Join your business and trade associations. Attend meetings.
Get involved. Volunteer for service on a key committee. This action alone has cut years off the career path of many people, including myself.
Once when I was giving a presentation for the Chamber of Commerce, I was noticed by a senior executive on one of the key committees. He approached me later and hired me away from the company I was working for at triple the salary. As a result, I jumped ahead in my career by five years. It is very important that you network at very opportunity.
A third way to expand your contacts is to get involved in community service organizations. The best people in every community, the people you should know and who should know you, are usually involved in public service in some way. Start with the United Way in your own city, or get involved in any charity that you care about or that you’re interested in. Get involved with your church or your political party. You‘ll be amazed at the quality of people that you’ll meet doing voluntary work.
