Tim Johnson’s SuperBlog

If you turned up at the park on a Sunday morning to play football you wouldn’t put yourself forward as a superstar striker when you’re a just rock solid defender.  Seems obvious, but why do so many people turn up at networking events pretending to be something they’re not? Possibly it’s fear; a self-imposed image of what a ‘successful’ business person should be; or an attempt to come across as expert at everything. 

 There’s no point in pretending to be something you are not. This is different from being prepared and putting your best foot forward, which are valid strategies.  Pretence just wastes so much time, effort and energy; perhaps more importantly it slowly erodes the soul.  It wastes time because it’s a flawed strategy, as sooner or later you’ll be found out. Things will start to unravel, all the work and effort up to that point will be wasted and your reputation will erode with it.

So what’s the answer?  Use networking to do away with the need for pretence by working with others who perhaps have the strengths and skills that you lack. Running even a micro business is more complex than most people realise. In good old corporate times you got a pre-packed chop from the fridge and put it under the grill; in other words there were other people doing all the stuff that allowed you to shine at what you did. Running your own business is a whole new ballgame. To get that lamb chop on the plate now requires finding a field with woolly creatures in it, stalking one, killing it, and preparing the meat before lighting your own fire to cook it. So don’t try to disguise your weaknesses or gaps; work with others who are good at some of those other things, allowing you to be good at what you do.  In this way, building a team through networking lets you scale your business on a low fixed overhead and develop a profitable partnership mentality. Then you don’t need to pretend to be every member of that football team, just play in the position you’re good at.

If you were to turn up at the park on a Sunday morning to play a game of football you wouldn’t volunteer yourself as a super star striker when in fact you’re a rock solid defender.  Seems obvious of course, but why do so many people turn up at networking events pretending to be something they are not?  (probably fear, a self imposed image of what ‘successful’ business person should be, or picking up perceived norms from more traditional networking events). 

There is no point pretending to be something that you are not (as opposed to being prepared and putting your best foot forward, which is an entirely different thing) because it just wastes so much time, effort and energy, and perhaps more importantly it slowly erodes the soul.  It wastes time because ultimately it’s a failed strategy, because sooner or later you’ll be ‘found out’ and things will start to unravel and all the direct work and effort  up to that point will be wasted, and your reputation will erode with it.

So what’s the answer?  Networking in many ways is about building teams, and teams work best when there is range of different skill sets and personalities.  Running even a small micro business is more complex than most people realise as to get a lamb chop on the plate requires finding a field with woolly creatures in it, stalking one, killing it, and preparing the meat before lighting your own fire to cook it – in good old corporate times you got the pre-packed chop from the fridge and put it under the grill – in other words there was an army of other people doing the ‘other’ stuff that allowed you to shine at what you did.  When you are running your own business it’s a whole new ball game.  Don’t try and improve your weaknesses or ‘gaps’, work with someone else whose good at those things so you can be good at what you do.  In this way it is possible to scale your business with a low fixed overhead with teamwork and profitable partnership mentality.