When looking for a position or to grow a career the advice that people get often centers on networking.  And it sounds like good advice.  Meet new people in your field, get introduced to decision makers and land a new position.  People diligently try to put that advice into practice.  They go to industry and networking events looking to meet those connections.  They keep their ears open and engage in countless conversations hoping to make an impression on someone. 

Weeks or even months go by, sometimes without much to show for it.  Maybe a stack of new business cards and some new connections on LinkedIn.  But in the search for a position not much further along.  Why is that? 

It is because networking is in fact an act of giving and not receiving, and most networkers view it as the opposite.  The majority of people are at networking events looking to get rather than to receive. 

Turning this thinking around opens us to so many more possibilities.  From now on try this:  Tell yourself that you are going to help someone at the next event that you attend.  Listen to what people are saying, think about how you can help, and make offering that assistance your impetus for follow up.

Call a new contact with follow up information, or an offer to connect him/her to someone in your existing network.  Instead of looking to increase your contacts, seek to share your contacts with someone else. 

By sharing with and advising others your network expands in a solid and sustainable way.  You make a lasting, tangible impression on the new people in your universe.  Those new people and others will be motivated to share with you.  Try it.