#27

The art of networking

Kingsley Aikins

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Kingsley is the CEO of The Networking Institute, a consultancy company that specialises in training in the areas of trade promotion, philanthropy, and diaspora engagement.

Prior to founding the Networking Institute, Kingsley held a variety of roles including Chief Executive of the Worldwide Ireland Funds and Founder and CEO of Diaspora Matters.

Kingsley is an ardent believer in the power- both political and professional- of networking. He has spent his life striving to bring together people regardless of geographical location under the one umbrella of promoting Irish interests.

Kingsley firmly believes that life is a game of inches, so let’s hear what advice he can share that will help move us all just a little further along our respective journeys.

Summary

2:40 Kingsley’s early years

• Early connections
• His year off playing rugby in France
• How French rugby is different from Irish rugby
• The top players on his team

5:15 Moving to Sydney, Australia

• Starting an Irish business network: The Lansdowne Road Club/Lansdowne Club
• The importance of networking when moving to a new country
• The Irish influence in Australia
• “Kings in Grass Castles” by Mary Durack

9:10 Founding the Australia Ireland Funds and the Ireland Funds of New Zealand

• Connecting with Tony O’Reilly, head of Heinz
• Creating the conditions for “funnels of serendipity” through which random chance can change your life

11:30 How to make tall asks

• “You just never know”: taking it one small step at a time
• Remembering that every large organization started small

13:20 The American Ireland Fund

• Taking inspiration from the UJA’s model
• Tapping into Ireland’s global resource, their “diaspora capital”
• Their projects: Offering support to Northern Ireland and establishing integrated schools
• Collaborating with Chuck Feeney on sending Northern Irish leaders to meet Nelson Mandela in South Africa

18:47 Fundraising and philanthropy

• Current donation tendencies at different income and age levels
• The importance of building relationships with potential donors
• Kingsley’s techniques when asking for money

25:52 The Irish diaspora

• Why Ireland has invested so much in this area
• Looking to the diaspora for help after the 2008 financial crisis
• Ireland’s “soft” cultural power
• How Ireland has become a leader in the diaspora space
• Ireland’s connection to Africa

31:00 Emigration and immigration

• Emigration caused by the 1846 famine
• Why the strongest diasporas are victim diasporas
• Making sure your networks reflect the diversity of the population
• The negative connotations of the word “migration” and the positive ones of the word “diaspora”
• Examples of large corporations founded by immigrants
• The obstacles faced by Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai when going to study in the US
• Kingsley’s work with the International Organization for Migration

36:52 FDI and the diaspora

• The “nudge factors”: how small things can make a huge difference when it comes to FDI funding

39:00 Kingsley’s return to Ireland

• Why he decided to come back

40:04 Networking

• The Networking Institute and the Diaspora Institute
• The negative associations we have with networking
• Carla Harris’s advice on who you need to advance in your career: advisors, mentors, sponsors
• The importance of having people who will defend you in your absence
• Empowering Yourself: The Organizational Game Revealed” by Harvey Coleman
• Why how well you do your job only contributes 10% to your career progress, and exposure contributes 60%
• How COVID will force people back into networking
• Tom Peters and the idea of “Me, Inc.”
• Taking responsibility for your own success and building your own personal brand

48:10 Exposure

• Exposure considerations: How can I overdeliver? How can I make other people look good?
• Becoming “known”
• The importance of asking yourself: “What value can I add to other people?”

49:40 Mentorship

• How to find and select a mentor
• Kingsley’s younger “reverse” mentors

52:25 Building a network

• Building a network with small steps taken over time
• Suggestions for those who “hate networking”
• Why introverts can be the best at networking
• The power of good listening skills
• “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie
• How technology reduces face-to-face interactions
• “Alone Together” by Sherry Turkle
• The characteristics of good networkers
• The lack of soft skills in new graduates
• The Centre for Future-ready Graduates at the National University of Singapore
• Building “social capital”
• Networking within organizations
• Companies who create alumni networks: the McKinsey example

1:02:25 Networking strategies

• What Kingsley teaches and asks in his training sessions
• Getting comfortable talking to strangers
• “…and Death Came Third!” by Andy Lopata
• In Ireland: “We’re great talkers and poor speakers”
• The challenge of public speaking

1:07:25 Weak connections

• The limitations of homophily (only spending time with people similar to us)
• Why your next job will come from your weak connections
• “Dunbar’s number”: the limited number of people we can have in our life
• Gender differences in networking

1:10:20 Relational vs transactional mindset

• Networking as an antidote to loneliness
• The Kaizen philosophy
• Examples of networking programs in various organizations and why networking should be integrated in the culture of a company
• Examples of small gestures that bring small gains

1:16:49 Habits

• Making networking part of your daily life
• Kingsley’s daily swimming and walking routines

1:19:40 Stand-up comedy

• Why humour is a great addition to public speaking