Good advice for business networking from the folks at Entrepreneur.com…
2. Be clean and connect. A recent study published by Harvard Business Review analyzed workers in North America and Europe, asking them: Would you rather work with a lovable fool or a competent jerk? Nearly every person preferred to work with a lovable fool.
“A little extra likability goes a longer way than a little extra competence in making someone desirable to work with,” wrote the authors. Walk into a room as an open, friendly human being without an agenda. This is how I naturally live my life. What I have noticed is people respond unconsciously and relate automatically.
It seems so obvious, but it’s a good reminder to relax and just be yourself.