Is Networking so important in Building a Company ? Does hard work not suffice Company Building ?
In this session on "Secrets of Networking Superstars" which we got to hear as part of the E- Conference "TiE Women - A Bootcamp for Women Entrepreneurs" organised by TiE - Delhi NCR held on 29th August 2020 aiming at the development and uplifting of women entrepreneurs providing them new ways to live a life being self dependent which would result in the their development as individuals, society and nation as a whole.
Speaker's Profile:
1. Ms. Sairee Chahal
Founder & CEO, SHEROES
Host:
The session was hosted by Ms. Upasana Sharma who is herself such an eminent and renowned person in the field of Entrepreneurship and also making an integral part of the team of TiE - Delhi NCR.
Sairee Chahal is the Founder, CEO of SHEROES - a community platform for women, offering support, resources, opportunities and interaction via Sheroes.com and the SHEROES App. She has to her credits providing means for work to women and has worked towards removing gender disparities in India.
Source : https://sheroes.com/
What people have to say about Sheroes ?
Here you can read about the Journey of Ms. Sairee Chahal
Read about the work business of Sairee Chahal
Talking with reference to the context, Ms. Sairee Chahal shared her own experience that while she was a Russian student, she got the opportunity to teach a couple "Russian Language" and that was the first experience in her life of "Networking".
She had no professional contacts before that.
So, every weekend for the next three months, it was her schedule to teach them "Russian". After 3 months, they completed their course and the couple went off. But they went and told other people about Sairee that if they want to learn "Russian" they can contact her. So, they did "Mouth Publicity". They spread a word about her.
Ms. Sairee says that if your work is good then there is something to talk about.
That gave her the confidence and people came to know about her and further she did many assignments with the Embassy.
She says that so you need just one trigger to move ahead, to boost up yourself, to work, to have confidence in yourself that you can do something.
Further she worked with two organisations and she said that some of us are Introvert, do not connect with people so easily and some of us are very happy meeting with people. So, there are all kinds of people around.
She worked with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and then with Heidrick & Struggles.
She then started Fleximoms in 2011, which helped new mothers get back into the workforce by connecting them with suitable job opportunities, such as those that offered flexi-hours and mentorship. Fleximoms, she informs us, was the inspiration for SHEROES. Later, Chahal shut down Fleximoms and founded SHEROES in 2014, which is now a team of 80 people.
This is at the time of Fleximoms, she got the inspiration for moving further ahead.
Ms. Sairee Chahal shared from her experience that, meeting people should be absolutely general.
She said that another important thing is that if every kind of person you know, then that is a circle.
"If we talk to same kind of people, then we narrow our things. That if we have 5 friends and all 5 are of just one kind then, we are not growing, we are limiting ourselves to restricted thinking. So, we need to talk to all kinds of people."
Instead, talk to all kinds of people and set up new nodes.
So, Ms. Sairee said that she was able to meet people who were very diverse.
So, she shared her experience that at one point of time, when she went for fund raising, she contacted people through messenger and one genuine person who very normally lent a hand of help to her in her fund raising.
She said that we need to have a connect with people without any expectations. There is a lot more giving, before taking back little.
If we have invested enough, it will come back.
She gave the example of a recent Bollywood movie, "Gunjan Saxena" and she said that there are times in life when nobody is taking your stand. There are people with their own insecurities.
Ms. Sairee said that earlier her aspiration was to meet CEOs and learn from them and be like them but currently she aspires to meet young minds to know more about the current scenario.
She said that it's also very important to meet people within your community.
Meeting with people is important and have conversations consistently.
She says that do not go to a person only at the time of fund raising but be in regular conversations with people.
She asked the simple question:
How does a person remember you ?
Follow up is a superpower.
Be there consistently when they need you.
Talk with respect.
She said that consistency matters. We need to look for Product Market.
The host for the session asked her giving her own reference that being established and experienced entrepreneurs, we all have a large network, but for a one month old entrepreneur who has a very small network, what is that which keeps us from doing it or not doing it or taking that step ahead and how we free ourselves from that ?
So, Ms. Sairee responded that we need to free ourselves from expectations.
You need to let yourself known to others. If they know you, then only they can help you.
You have to go out and put your hand out or to help them and it's good that the first time you go to a person and you are not asking for help, you are just meeting them casually. Your interest in the person is genuine. You meet people when they most expect that you would not show up.
You have to meet people even if you are not well and not in a good mood. You still need to meet them for that is important for your work and you need to make it fun.
She highlighted on the following points that:
For networking,
1. We need to be Constructive and Consistent.
2. Networking is one of the important verticals of Company Building.
She said that if you are the founder of a company, you can not outsource networking.
If you are the founder and if you show - up yourself then 50% of your job is done then and there.
Ms. Sairee gave one of her own examples that just a few days before this session, a person had called her up and he said that they had met some time back on an airport lounge and it was an around 15-20 minutes meeting. So, giving this example, she tried to explain that it would have been good if the person after his meeting would have left a follow -up note.
Further she said that everyday she receives around 300 mails and she makes sure she leaves a follow - up and keep the conversation going.
Ms. Sairee said that there are two things to network:
1. Range
2. Depth
Talking about this, she said in her company they have women and they have internet. So, for their working, they need very different kind of people.
Range - People good at making Policies, Media people, Healthcare experts, Nutritionists, etc. People from all sectors.
Depth - What is your level of relationship with them ?
In Ms. Sairee's words, you need to have a level such that they can trust you for help.
The level of trust should be that you can leave your child at their house and they can call you up for their help.
Ms. Sairee concluded her session stating that, "You can't have deep relationships with everyone, but you need to have certain deep relationships."
She said that if your network is larger, you are at a better place.
She closed her conversation saying that most people need follow up.
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