Networking Is Dead - Christian Entrepreneur Do This Instead

If there was a personal silver lining around this whole pandemic is that I didn't have to go out to participate in networking events anymore!

I've always felt uncomfortable with the idea of trying to meet people for the sole purpose of personal gain. Still, I’ve reluctantly believed that I was missing out on opportunities to meet my 'big' client if I wasn't doing it.

Truthfully, networking actually makes me feel dirty. Then there's the pressure to drink alcohol as some social lubricant to get conversations going, and now I'm in the zone of moral impurity. So, I avoid networking events like the plague.

The world of business wants us to define success through the network we develop - the more relationships we can form, the more chances we have for personal advancement. There are entire books and podcasts dedicated to the art of growing our network.

As students at Cornell, we were lectured about networking in almost every business class. Then, we come out and got sales or business development jobs, and we were taught to race to one more boring party, so we can be seen and shake hands with someone that might be able to help us. It just doesn't feel right.

And networking on LinkedIn feels just as inauthentic. Inboxes are crowded with random people trying to seem personable, but we know they are trying to sell something.

It shouldn’t have to be this way.

There are serious problems with networking as a primary path to success - the biggest one being that networking kills authentic relationships.

For Christian entrepreneurs, networking contradicts the nature of God that is being cultivated within us. God's identity is centered on love. God gave sacrificially and generously, not for His own benefit.

Of course, we need to meet more people, make new connections, and develop relationships with others to succeed. Churches grow through new relationship building and collaboration, and so do businesses. The network of people around us is important in every area of success for an entrepreneur.

What is the Christian entrepreneur's solution to finding success without relegating to inauthentic networking tactics?

The Bible says

Whoever wants to be great (or a leader) must become a servant (Matthew 20:20-24)

Jesus was saying this to a mother that had come to "network" with Jesus. She asked Jesus to make it so that her two sons would sit at his left and right hand. (This sounds a lot like going to networking events asking for business). So, Jesus responded by essentially saying that if you want the "sale," you have to serve.

If you want to succeed in business, you must learn that serving is not only the “path” to success; it is success in itself.

All of us Christian entrepreneurs have a tremendous opportunity to serve like nobody else. Jesus' success was because he came to serve, not to be served. The same formula for greatness is available to us too!

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Reflection

1. How do YOU feel about the pressure always to be building your professional networking skills?

2. What's your take on networking through social media to achieve some level of success?

3. How do you resonate with Jesus' description of the mother of the path to success and greatness in life?

4. How does Jesus' instruction compare with what culture, media, and business teach about finding success through networking?

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