Sunday, January 23, 2011

The Reiki of Referrals and Reputation

My husband Joel, like many people, is agnostic about Reiki:  he does not believe or disbelieve.

Whether you believe in the healing power of Reiki or not, a key attribute of Reiki has a universal resonance for me:  that as a by-product of acting as a channel to direct healing energy to a client, a Reiki practitioner also benefits from the healing energy of the client session.

For me,  the act of referring business and candidates benefits me, the networking practitioner, in a similar way.

Now, it's not linear, or Newtonian.  That is:  for every referral action, there is not an equal and opposite referral action back to me.  And it's seldom from the same person receiving the referral.

It's more organic and wonderful than just quid pro quo.  (And while I network and refer for business reasons, I also enjoy it immensely.)

Sometimes, the energy of a referral is paid forward, benefiting another referral that I do not know - yet.

Other times, the referral investment comes back to me through another referral, seemingly unrelated by time and my network.

The pro bono work I do for folks who are between gigs and who are about to discover their next vocational adventure is both a karmic and reputation investment whose seed was planted early in my career by one of my mentors.  My friend Lisa, who is a life coach, makes the same investment with similar positive dividends.

Today, I experienced the rewarding give-and-take of this energy in one day.  This morning, I shared some of my templates with a group of talented friends / colleagues, two of whom are about to launch successful consulting practices (they both already have customers lined up!).  This afternoon, I receive a windfall of wonderful new templates from a completely different friend / colleague, which will absolutely enhance my own practice and work.

May we all continue to invest our energy in each other towards both our personal and mutual prosperity.

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