Last week we celebrated our 10th birthday. During the breakfast our guest speaker was, my wife and TBL Co-Founder, Rebecca who shared her story about the Business League, Overcoming anxiety and some personal experiences that have shaped who she is today.
During the presentation, Bec cried, other guests cried. Bec was vulnerable and shared openly.
As a result Bec has been flooded with appreciation, gratitude, admiration and comments at the end of the breakfast, through texts, emails and public Facebook messages.
It was powerful.
One of the most popular comments that people have made is that they feel they know Bec better and have a better relationship with her. She was able to achieve this whilst talking to 80-business owners.
Through being vulnerable and sharing, Bec has taken many relationships to the next level. Specifically from this one incident.
Being vulnerable is powerful. Not only is it being authentic and sharing, but the spin-off benefits are that it will help you build better relationships with the right people. They get to see you, get to know what’s happening and feel more deeply connected to you. All of these will strengthen your ties with your contacts.
Sure there will be people who don’t resonate with what you have said, but the truth is they are probably not the people for you. So being vulnerable will help weed these people out quicker and mean you don’t wste your time and energy with them.
Yes it may expose you to more ‘nay-sayes’ and yes this can be hard. I know. I’ve been hurt by people’s comments before. I’ve seen it happen to Bec as well. But the truth is its always better to know who the naysayers are and remove them from your life. Find people who understand you, who want to be around you, who get you. Fill your world with these people. At The Business League one of the key drivers of success we see in our members is when business owners surround themselves with people who are going to stretch them, help them be better and support them. When this happens you thrive. Being vulnerable cna lead you to these people.
Another powerful element of being vulnerable is that people can see and hear you. It then becomes easier for them to identify if they can help you. The amount of people that I have met that don;t put there hand up for help, is dis-heartening. They go it alone, when times are tough (I’ve done this before). It should be the opposite. When times are tough, friends, colleagues and associates should rally around to help those in need. The problem is many of them don’t know. And if someone doesn’t know – they can’t help you. Be honest with yourself and your close supporters, confidantes and mentors and if you need help ask for it. Asking for help, needs you to be vulnerable. Asking for help opens the door to you becoming more powerful and having greater impact.
So what can you do to be more vulnerable in your networking?
