BNI founder Dr Ivan Misner - networking and humility

BNI founder Dr Ivan Misner - networking and humility BNI founder Dr Ivan Misner: “I was not good at networking… but I’m probably pretty good at it now!” Image Source: Ivan Misner on FacebookGlobally  renowned business consultant and  Business Network International  BNI founder Dr Ivan Misner, who  is frequently dubbed ‘the father of modern networking’ (“hey, I’m just glad  theyre not calling me the grand-father of modern networking,” he  quips) is surely one of the world’s most travelled business figures.He is also  the author of 20 books, including Networking Like a Pro: Turning Contacts Into Connections, and The 29% Solution, as well as  the  New York Times  best-seller, Masters of Success: Proven Techniques for Achieving Success in Business and Life. IMAGE SOURCE:  AMAZON Check Price  This all amounts to an extremely impressive track record, but in terms of miles covered and people encountered, he is run a close second by ‘Bob’, who has travelled as far and encountered just as many people over the past decade and a half.  Misner never leaves home  without Bob. Bob is a little ‘pipe-cleaner’ man that  Misner’s now adult daughter Cassie made for him when she was just eight years old.“When she made him, I told her I would take Bob with me everywhere I went. So  wherever I go, I take pictures of Bob. And all over the world, people say to me, ‘Hey, do you have Bob?’ because they want to take pictures of Bob too. It was a way to stay connected with my daughter, because I travel so much,” he explains.Image Source: Ivan Misner on FacebookIt is no surprise to learn that  family is important to Ivan Misner. Pretty much everything is. Speaking to AGENT by telephone recently, the long distance line crackled with energy as Misner spoke about networking and business and psychology and philosophy and what he loves and what annoys him and, ultimately, how we can all help each other do great things for one another, and, ultimately, make the world a better place. It was like listening to a kid passionately enthusing about a baseball cards collection.Three decades on from the founding of BNI, it i s so easy to see why Misner has become a touchstone for people who are interested in networking. So it may throw such people quite a curveball to learn that the man who’s been dubbed “the father of modern networking”, and “networking guru”, doesnt think he is a natural networker.“I prefer to work with people than things,” he explains. “Being in the back-room doing accounting is certainly not my interest. But am I a natural networker? I have to say, absolutely, positively, unequivocally not!”Misner is convinced that many people who think they are natural networkers are “actually horrible” at it, and that what they are doing when they think they are networking is actually direct selling. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Networking: the long game“A good networker will ask questions and get the other person to elaborate.”“Networking is more about farming than it is about hunting,” Misner explains. “It’s about cultivating relationships with other business people. Some people might think that particular personality styles or behavioural styles do not make for good networkers, where in fact they might be very good at it.”“Networking should be like an interview, like we’re doing here, where you’re asking me questions, and Im answering and elaborating. A good networker will ask questions and get the other person to elaborate. Direct selling is not the same skill-set.”“The foundation of everything I teach is the VCP Process: Visibility, Credibility, Profitability. You have to first be visible. People have to know who you are and what you do. Then you have to establish credibility, so people know who you are and what you do and know youre good at it, and that’s the thing that takes time. Only then can you get to profitability, where people know who you are, what you do, know youre good at it, and theyre willing to pass you referrals on an ongoing basis. But what happens is, people try to jump over Visibil ity and Credibility, and go directly to profitably. So I think there’s a lot of people out there who think theyre good at networking, and aren’t.”“I was not good at networking, but I think it’s a skill that absolutely can be acquired. And I am, probably, pretty good at it, now.”Humility Gratitude“They don’t teach this stuff in colleges and universities, anywhere in the world.”As well  as his engaging  and insightful sense of humour, Misner’s every utterance seems marinated in a sense of humility and gratitude. That’s because he doesn’t claim to have all the answers, and also because when he first became interested in business networking, not only was he not interested in it, but no-one else that he knew was good at it either.“When I put BNI together, I was fairly young, 28 years old and Id like to tell you I had this vision of an international organisation with groups all over the world, but the truth is, I just needed some referrals for my consulting prac tice, and I wanted to help my friends, and I bet that theyd be willing to help me too, and I brought in people who were older, more successful, had been in business, and what I discovered was, they didnt know how to network either. And I was surprised!”While Misner had no actual mentors to lean on whilst conceptualising BNI, there were writings that fulfilled that purpose, and helped him to write the first doctoral dissertation on business networking, and one of the first books on business networking. However, he credits the work of author Michael Gerber in helping him to scale BNI to a global organisation.“They dont teach this stuff in colleges and universities, anywhere in the world. We dont teach networking, social capital, emotional intelligence, its just not taught in colleges in universities. So there were no mentors when I was starting out. I wrote the first doctoral dissertation on business networking, wrote one of the first books on business networking. There were no me ntors, but I certainly had mentors in terms of the material I read, and things that I incorporated into my business. The biggest of those to me would be Michael Gerber and The E-Myth, and I took a lot of the concepts in his book to help me scale the BNI organisation. Since then, I’ve gotten to know Michael pretty well, and we’ve become friends, but back then, I didn’t know him. I knew his book.” Image Source: Amazon Check Price In Part 2: read about Ivan Misner’s role models; and what he considers to be the core attributes of a successful networker.