Business 101

I headed off to a all day business conference today.  I often approach these events with a mix of dread and anticipation, and can find myself scrambling to feel comfortable at networking breaks, so much so that I often would head off to meeting rooms early just to have a place to be.  I decided to approach this meeting with a sort of eye to applying what I have learned on the mitzvah journey, this not stressing small things including parking at the hotel as opposed to searching out the cheaper parking across the street, and kind of letting things happen in an organic way rather than pushing to meet a particular person or maximize the efficiency of my time.  The most important thing I did (or I should say tried to do) was to keep my negative comments about people or the event to a minimum.  The interesting thing is I think we all carry around this baggage that we think other folks will find out about and to somehow preempt that we share information they have no need to know.   Upon arriving I immediately ran into someone I know.  It just so happens this person runs an incubator program for which I recently volunteered to give a marketing talk, so it was a very friendly conversation and I joined her group for breakfast instead of sitting by myself and trying to look confident which I have done many times.  The day progressed in this sort of way, all the networking and offers of help that I have put out there in the past few months, translated to nice conversations and greetings.  I was busy chatting with no effort at every break and the questions I asked in sessions, got good responses, as they weren't about making me look smart but achieving true understanding.  The power of what you don't say came home in a few conversations, where by not saying anything about a mutual acquaintance I learned all sort of things of use.  Of course, I know listening to gossip is also a "sin",  so I still have plenty to work on.  This really came home when I stepped out to use the restrooms during the lunchtime plenary and a woman I know started to complain bitterly about the speaker.  I started to engage, somehow when someone is criticizing I am trained to jump on the bandwagon to show my support, but then I pulled back.  I realized how negative she sounded and how most folks prefer not to hang out with negative people.  The rest of the day just went smoothly, the less I said, the more I learned.  The art of power listening, could be a business self-help book in there.  I just wished I learned it years ago.  So all in all a good day, may not have gotten work from it, but I cemented some relationships and made some new acquaintances and it felt like I was building a real network, not just names to go in the outlook file.   Each and every day, we have the opportunity to approach our interactions from a positive perspective.  It is a choice.    Perhaps like changing my diet, or exercising regularly, all things I have done, I can wean myself off the negative talk, not just to others but to myself as well.  That would be amazing.