Many have told me of the angst and misery they go through to 'network' - that horrible feeling when you first enter a room full of people you don't know and the gut-renching first hello really is an ordeal of the highest degree.  They also tell me how much time it wastes when they could be concentrating on their career and business. So is networking a myth or a must?

The tales of woe above are something that I work though all the time but choose to ignore. Why you say? I believe you can't expect to get ahead in your career or your business without people knowing who you are or what you do!  The myth is that if you do a fabulous job you will be noticed - or if you have a great business you will have lots of customers just because you do a good job...  People are not mind-readers and a personal connection is the only true way to guarantee your path to success.

I am what you might call a non-networker's networker.  I don't attend lots of large functions to hand out multiple business cards. I do however attend small intimate functions where I can get a chance for a one-on-one conversation. I don't email tons of people I don't know, but carefully select and nurture relationships. I work out what I can give them and not what they can give me. I feel uncomfortable asking people for help so therefore I only ask for help on behalf of others. By doing so though, I have always found that those I have helped have always done something that will make my journey easier or more fun or more fulfilling. I do this because I want to and not because I have to.

Empty networking is not my style but relationship-building is.  So I ask the question again - is networking a myth or a must?