Dr Goldberg....the miracle maker

Doctor Goldberg is known throughout London as one of the best consultants on arthritis. He always has a waiting room full of people who need his advice and specialist treatment. One day, Henry, an elderly gent, slowly struggles into his waiting room. He is completely bent over and leans heavily on his walking stick. A chair is found for him. Eventually, his turn comes to go into Doctor Goldberg’s office. Fifteen minutes later, to everyone’s surprise, he comes briskly out of his room walking almost upright. He is holding her head high and has a smile on his face. A woman in the waiting room says to Henry, "It's unbelievable, a miracle even. You walk in bent in half and now you walk out erect. What a fantastic doctor he is. Tell me, what did Doctor Goldberg do to you?"
"Miracle, huh miracle," says Henry, "he just gave me a longer walking stick!"

What I learnt from my audience today

I believe I stay up with the pack on networking skills and knowledge because of the hundreds of people I present to. Often in those hundreds there is one or two people who will come up with something I haven't heard before.
"What would the perfect client look like for you?2 was one good question.
In today's speedy world time over money seems to be the scarce resource. So, when we go networking and give our full attention to someone we share that resourse which can never be replaced (unlike money which can). The person to whom you give that attention will be pleased, flattered and not forget you. After all, networking is building relationships...what a great way to do it.

Listen, don’t just wait

A key skill for effective networkers is to be able to listen properly. There are 5 levels of listening

1 We don’t listen. It’s rude and we cannot possibly build relationships! People who do this are simply waiting to talk rather than listening. You will meet the ‘Ah but…’ and ‘Yes yes and ….’ So called listeners.

2 Men are better at level 2 than women. We pretend to listen!

3 Most people do this most of the time. We selectively listen. When we are talking to people we keep changing channels in our heads. It’s natural in today’s sound-bite society to lose concentration. I don’t condone it, it’s just how it is.

4 This is where we listen attentively. We can’t do it for more than say 30 seconds but at least it does show we are paying attention and treating the other person with respect.

5 This is the key when we ask important questions and we really want to get a truthful answer. I call it full-body listening. Not only should we listen but also watch the person’s body language carefully. We can lie with our words but not with our tone of voice or body movements. When we look carefully we can often glean more by reading between the lines and realising that what isn’t being said can be more important than what is!

The core skill we need to be an effective networker is asking the right questions but if we don’t listen at level 4 and 5 it will a great skill wasted