Once you’ve found your Blue Flame, it’s time to have a RAP, or a Relationship Action Plan. Here’s a simlpe way to get started. Write down your goals and the names and types of people who can help you achieve them. Then, note how you can reach those people and how you can contribute to their success, too. The more specific a plan you have and the more you put your goals out to others, the more everyone will conspire to help you achieve your dreams. On the other hand, if you don’t know what you want or you don’t tell anyone, no one can help you. They can't read your mind.

　　I can’t tell you how many times a friend has called me and said, “Keith, I just became unemployed. I need to start networking; will you teach me how ?” My answer : “No. No. No. You need to start job-hunting! You should have been building relationships for the past 5 or 10 years, so now that you neeed a job, you could make 20 calls and have 5 job offers waiting for you in a week.”

　　Presentation

　　When I give talks to college and graduate students they always ask me, “What are the secrets to success ? What are the unspoken rules for making it big ? Perferably, they’d like my response wrapped up in a tight package and tied with a neat little bow. Why not ? I wanted the same thing at their age.

　　“So you want the inside scoop,” I respond. “Fair enough, I’ll sum up the key to success in one word: Generosity.” The kids are shocked because they think I’m going to give them “netwoking” advice. And when they think of “networking”, they think of a guy holding a martini with one hand and scattering business cards with the other. He’s hell-bent on doing anything it takes to “get to the top”,including climbing on the backs of others.

　　The era of that Networking Jerk is over. I learned that the hard way. Once, a mentor of mine said to me, “ Stop driving yourself and-everyone else -crazy thinking about how to make yourself successful. Strat thinking about how you’re going to make everyone around you successful.”

　　Please, learn from my mistakes and the mistakes of many others. Don’t be a networking jerk. Remember that the NO.1 key to success is generosity. Give your talents, give your constacts and give your hard work to make others successful without ever keeping score.

　　While I would say that your relationships are the most critical piece of your personal brand, before you can develop those relationships you’ve got to know something and have something to say. Just having a brain and an MBA won't get you anywhere anymore. If you want to become more valuable in the marketplace or more intriguing to the world at large, you must develop some deep expertise in your mind and root some higher-order passion in your heart.