Networking Archives - John Kobara

Lifecycle of Friends

May 16, 2022

Friendship is the hardest thing
in the world to explain.
It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned
the meaning of friendship,
you really haven’t learned anything.
Muhammad Ali

We all know the dreaded words, words that were uttered to me 😊, “Can’t we just be good friends?”

But these are words I crave to hear now!

Youthful exuberance, animalistic needs, reckless ambition, and of course our insatiable egos pushed and push many people away from us. People who could be great friends.

And through our wit and charm and really, sheer luck, you established and maintained a cadre of comrades.
Seems like my circle of good friends is mirroring my life. It is declining to its essence. The constellation of shiny friendships which once seemed infinite like the universe is becoming a smaller system of souls whose gravitational pull keeps me together.

I am filled with gratitude but wonder where it is going and why.

I just want good friends.

Is that My Smile?

April 4, 2022

As we are emerging from the isolation of the pandemic we are starting to come to grips with our ability to socialize, to present ourselves in real face to face situations. We are pretty rusty! We all need a tune-up. Amazing what we have forgotten or don’t want to remember.

“Business casual”. Yeah your cutoffs and T-shirts are going to have to make way for whatever fits or a whole new wardrobe.

I think most of us can cleanup pretty well to comply with the dress codes.

But your social graces may need a real honest to goodness makeover!

Career Pre-nuptials?

June 11, 2021

It makes me sick as I am counseling people making career changes, leaving one job for “greener pastures”. So consumed with leaving they can’t really remember how they grew as people. They can’t tell a credible story about how they optimized the time there. “Too busy”, “Too much stress” “office politics” so many reasons why they did the minimum work. Work good enough for the position, but not extraordinary experience of learning and growing. And some do not depart with the most basic milestones—a better resume, a better human development story, a better mentor, and a better network.