Lately I have been working on marketing ideas for business and came across the following “networking” ideas from motivational speaker, Mark McGregor.  These made me think about how important it is to also use these “commandments” in our day to day life.  Mark suggests:

Want to gain the most out of business networking?  Use these great items in the Ten Commandments of Networking!

 1)    Thou shalt drop the “what is in it for me?” attitude.

2)    Thou shalt listen.

 3)  Thou shalt build a relationship.

 4)  Thou shalt give the first referral.

 5)  Thou shalt not tell others of the referral you require; thou shalt “show them” with a   story.

 6)  Thou shalt be specific of the type of referral.

 7)  Thou shalt reciprocate when appropriate.

 8)  Thou shalt participate in the network executive functions and network time.

 9)  Thou shalt thank the person who gave a referral.

 10) Thou shalt follow up on the referral within 24 hours.

 These things are so simple yet, in our hurry to get our own needs met, we forget how to be polite to other people.  This so often is a curse of those dealing with abuse and addiction – they forget the “niceties” of life.  What if we all started doing in our personal life what we strive to do daily in our business life?  The world would be a much better place for everybody.

 “Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.”     –    Ralph Waldo Emerson