Saturday Musings - Why Networking is a Bad Idea

I can’t stand the term “networking”. It really iterates me when I hear people talk about “great network opportunities” when they refer to a conference. The reason I don’t like the term is that it’s completely self-centered. It’s all about what you can get out of something or someone.

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How many times have you been in a conversation with someone where the only reason they want to get to know you is because of who you work for or the position you hold? You’re merely the stepping stone for them to sell some product or service. They actually don’t care about you and developing a friendship is the furthest thing from their thinking.

Yes, in business we all do transactions with one another but there is a right way and a wrong way to treat people along the journey. Networking is all about getting something…..I think we should flip the model on its head and work out what we can give.

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Rawgi
I have found that I have to keep check on my enthusiasm when meeting new people or I forget to listen. Having been around the blo... Read More
28 May 2017
mgilmour
As always.....thank you Rawgi for sharing your own experiences on this topic. There are always people that will try and take advan... Read More
29 May 2017
Wolftalker
Wise Words.
31 May 2017
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Saturday Musings – When Life Brings Changes

Our house has been in the midst of a lot of change over the past week. Tim and his girlfriend flew down from up north for a flying visit and our daughter Sarah is in the process of moving into her own place.

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Life’s been a little bit chaotic with people coming and going. Come Tuesday next week and there will just be Roselyn and I with eighteen-year-old daughter Elise rattling around the house built for a lot more than just us.

When life throws you a whole lot of changes you can either resist what is happening or go with the flow.  I’m an eternally optimist so I like to look on the empty bedrooms as an opportunity.

I recently had a person tell me that I’m too optimistic and that I need a dose of reality. I responded by saying that I like to make my own reality so it may as well be a positive one. I must admit that I get tired of people that always seem to point out that donuts have holes…..for heaven’s sake you’ve got a donut. Enjoy it!

I’m now in the process of turning one of the spare bedrooms into a video/sound studio with a green screen and all. I love messing around with being creative with that type of stuff and my “donut” is looking better every day.

I’ve now bought a high-end microphone, mixing console, and some sound software so that I can record an audio version of my book, Battleframe. I’ve always wanted to do this and now I have the space to do it in…..so get ready for some audio and even video action!

When life brings changes your way remember that not all of them are bad. It seems to me that when your children get older and leave the nest they inevitably bring back someone else with them. You can either view this as a threat to the way things were or an opportunity to get to know someone your kids really love.

Sarah had her birthday this past week and we had all the boy and girlfriends around for a great celebration. It was fantastic seeing them laughing and interacting with one another….it’s one of the many blessings of being a parent.

So decide what you're going to do in your life, look at the donut or grumble that it's got a hole.

Have a great weekend!

Michael

 

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Saturday Musings – Unlocking One of Life's Mysteries

I was talking with one of my daughters the other day and she was sharing about some plans she was forming for her future. As a father, there is no greater privilege when your children feel they can openly share with you about their own life.

In the course of the conversation I shared about what I thought was one of life’s greatest mysteries and that is learning about yourself. It sounds quite introspective but I’ve found that learning about myself, my strengths, weakness and capacities is extremely satisfying.

Along life's journey, I can learn how to augment my strengths, guard against my weaknesses and be very aware that I have a limits.

For example, when I was a child I had a really bad temper. If my brother or sisters said anything I didn’t like then I let them know about it in no uncertain terms…..in short, I would lose control.

Over the years I’ve learned about my tempter weakness, worked on it and I’m somewhat proud to say that it now takes an exceptional situation for me to lose my cool. To come to grips with my problem I first had to recognise I had one and then work away at it (maybe the subject of another blog).

A number of people have asked me why I invited a partner to work with me in ParkLogic. When ParkLogic first started I didn’t need any money and what I recognised was that I had a set of skills in one area but needed help in others.

I made the decision to essentially gave away half the company to help me learn about my own weaknesses and improve myself. A great bonus is the fact that David Gibbs (my business partner of 10 yeas) is a fantastic guy to work with and I’ve now learned an incredible amount from him.

There's one thing I've learned over the years, money will come and go but your character will stay with you for ever. So the fact that I could sway some money to help me improve myself was an awesome investment!

All of us have strengths, weaknesses and limits to what we can do. Being aware of these things is the first steps in the adventure of life. Improving all three of them is the second, third, fourth and onwards steps.

What will happen is life will inevitably bring people or circumstances across your path that will challenge you in infinite numbers of ways. How we approach these challenges will really show how far we’ve learned about ourselves and how much we’ve developed our character.

So as I was chatting with my daughter I said to her, “Remember there is no such thing as a mistake, only opportunities to learn about yourself.”

This immediately removed much of the pressure to make the “right” decision from her shoulders as she fully embraced the adventure of learning about herself. She opened her eyes up to how circumstances and other people were teaching things about herself.

For me, I was rewarded with my daughter’s smiling face as she began her first steps towards understanding one of life’s greatest mysteries.

Have a great weekend!

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Saturday Musings - Choose Life

Each morning Roselyn and I wake up to the beautiful sounds of a family of magpies warbling their very unique song in our garden. The mother and father hunt out worms for the juvenile that tags along behind them constantly needing to be fed. It’s a beautiful sight to see a family enjoying life and living in peace.

I then contrast this to the mayhem and destruction in Syria, Paris, Lebanon and now Mali. My heart goes out to the families and friends that lost loved ones in any of the terrorist incidents. I was so inspired by the story of a Parisian husband that had lost his wife and in his grief he made the decision to not rise up in hatred against his wife's killers. What an inspiration to be admired and also aspire to.

So why is it that so much terror against innocents is being justified as the answer to improving the lives of the perpetrators? How is it that death has triumphed over life as the solution to happiness?

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There’s only one answer and the butler, Alfred, in the Batman franchise of movies summed it up by saying, “Some people just want to see the world burn.”

Yes, there are parts of the world that are burning and a small group of people rejoicing in the fact. Slaughtering people and treating the preciousness of life as something to be carelessly disposed of is a crime….but more than that, it’s a sickness and a disease.

When I look at the madness that is driving the hatred and carnage and I can’t help but feel sorry for the perpetrators. To be living with such a tortured mind that taking the life of another is the only salve for their insanity must be a horrible place to be.

I used to get angry at terrorists but I don’t anymore. I view them as incredibly sick individuals that need our help. For some of them they need to be shown that love will triumph over hate and that there is a better way of life not death.

For others, sadly, to stop the infection spreading they need to be excised from humanity and ushered into where they believe they will be happy. We shouldn’t rejoice and treat it as revenge but do so with a heavy heart that a fellow human has become so deranged that the only solution is to cauterise humanities wound.

To me the answer is really simple to a complex problem. An ultimatum needs to be given by the world against those infected, choose love over hate and life over death. If you genuinely do so we will embrace you and help you and your families. If you don’t turn from your ways then you leave us no choice but to remove you from existence – the people of the world have spoken.

The overwhelming majority of people just want to have a good family, friends and enjoy life to its fullest. We need to stop highlighting on our televisions the 0.001% of people that don’t want this. Starve them of the media oxygen that fans the flames of hatred and focus a lot more on the magpies in the garden.

Yes, this article is simplistic….but love often is. Have a great weekend!

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Michael Gilmour has been in business for over 32 years and has both a BSC in Electronics and Computer Science and an MBA. He was the former vice-chairman of the Internet Industry Association in Australia and is in demand as a speaker at Internet conferences the world over. He has also recently published his first science fiction book, Battleframe.

Michael is passionate about working with online entrepreneurs to help them navigate their new ventures around the many pitfalls that all businesses face. Due to demands on his time, Michael may be contacted by clicking here for limited consulting assignments.

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Voltaire
Well said, Michael... The profound truths are not complicated. Living the simple truths often are. Your magpie family has it righ... Read More
21 November 2015
Garaj
These do and will happen if “good” people of any faith dont act in unity. For me "Bush" was a sick evangelist that arranged or le... Read More
22 November 2015
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