I’m delighted to introduce Kingsley Aikins, CEO of The Networking Institute whose mission is to help individuals and organisations achieve their goals through Networking. He is a recognised expert on the topic and has written and spoken extensively on the benefits of Networking and how to get better at it. He has run workshops and developed online and offline training programmes in the areas of Networking, Public Speaking, Philanthropy and Diaspora Engagement. To date he has trained over 10,000 people in more than 100 organisations in 22 countries and has worked across industry from major accounting to law and from non-profit and government organisations. In his career he has worked for 10 years for the Irish Trade Board and IDA Ireland. He then led The Ireland Funds for 21 years mostly based in Boston. In his time with the Funds over a quarter of a billion dollars was raised for projects in Ireland. He was awarded a CBE for his work on British – Irish relations.

In today’s episode, Kingsley discusses whether traditional networking still works, the importance of having diversity in your network, the benefit of cultivating and using network intelligence to scale your business, the PIE approach to networking.

Listen out for:

• Now is the time to shine online and to serve, not sell and to give, not take
• People think that networking is about getting a job or a sale. It is about the opposite. It is about what you can give to other people and how you can put your network at the disposal of other people
• We are the average of the people we hang around with
• There are some characteristics that good networkers have in common: they work hard at it, they are humble, they don’t brag and they don’t keep score. They know that their network is a living, breathing thing that will grow and if you exercise it like a muscle, it will grow stronger, but if you ignore it, it will wither and die.
• Great networkers are curious people. They ask great questions like who, what, when, where and how
• They are two types of information – formal and informal. You can’t compete with information that everyone knows.
• Great networkers are bridges between different clusters of types of people. They work hard to spend time with unlike minded people, to seek out people who are different.
• Introverts can be better networkers than extroverts
• If you are looking for an opportunity, you are looking for a person
• Companies should encourage their people to network
• We live in a world where it’s not who you know, it’s not even what you know, it’s about who knows you.

Timeless Takeaways:

• Life is a game of inches. The difference between success and failure, winning and losing is miniscule, but the implication can be gigantic.
• You need every little competitive advantage you can get and your network gives you that competitive advantage
• One introduction, one connection can change your life
• Hard skills get you on the ladder. Soft skills get you up the ladder
• Create funnels of serendipity
• The number one skill in networking is being a good listener

About the Host

Brendan brings 25 years’ experience of scaling businesses. Most recently, Brendan spent 16 years as a global business leader with CDE, 12 of those as Group MD, steering the company through the global financial crisis to considerable strategic growth success with offices now in 6 continents employing almost 700 people across the world (from 15) and 25X revenue growth.

He currently acts as a Non-Executive Director to CDE Asia (part of the CDE Group), a company he co-promoted in 2006. In 2019, he co-led the successful private equity funding round which secured investment from IIFL, India’s leading integrated financial services group to support the company’s future growth ambitions throughout the Asia region.

In 2016, he was awarded the Institute of Directors UK Young Director of the Year and Overall Director of the Year. An avid sportsman and advocate of self-leadership through good well-being practices, Brendan is also training to become a Wim Hof Method instructor.