Last week, I posted about handling a jerk and I don’t want to leave my last post on a sour note.
Have you ever read, The Little Prince? I first learned of it back in 1992 when my friend Daniel Schaffer gave me a copy of it – back when we were literally sailing the world!
🦊 What the Fox (from The Little Prince) Taught Me About Networking
There’s a timeless scene in The Little Prince that I’ve always loved. The prince meets a fox. The fox asks to be tamed. Not owned. Not chased. But tamed.
The fox explains: “To me, you will be unique in all the world.” And…. “You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.”
What he’s really asking for is friendship (or relationship). Built on trust. Time. Repetition.
A bond like this that requires intention.
And that’s where it hit me: That’s exactly what great networking should feel like. Especially on LinkedIn.
Too often, networking becomes a numbers game. Clicks. Follows. Likes. And nothing more. It’s optics in that you appear to be well connected and optics that there is value in you because your network is large.
But relationships? Real relationships?
They aren’t transactional. They’re transformational.
Real relationships take effort. Consistency. Care.
The fox said it best: “It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”
Same goes for the people you build relationships with.
When you invest — by showing up, adding value, staying in touch, by making an effort … by being intentional — you’re not just another name in someone’s feed. And it’s never waste time if you’re learning and growing.
You become memorable. Trusted. Valued.
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So here’s my challenge to you: Stop chasing connections. Start nurturing relationships.
And when in doubt—be a little more like the fox. 🦊
Note / Notice: “be more like the fox.” Initially when I read the book, I would have said be more like The Little Prince. But here’s the nuance (Sorry / not sorry, I was an English Literature major in undergrad):
The Fox is the one who teaches the lesson. He’s the wise one, asking to be tamed, explaining what it means to build a relationship with care, trust and time.
The Little Prince is the one who learns the lesson. He becomes the one who tames, who shows up, who builds the bond.
So depending on the lens…
If your message is about: → Being present, intentional and nurturing in how you build relationships, then it’s more accurate to say: “Be like the Little Prince.”
But if your message is: → About recognizing the value of being tamed—of letting people in, of being open to deeper connection, then it’s: “Be like the Fox.”
– What’s one relationship on LinkedIn you’re grateful you took time to build?
– Do you think we’ve lost the art of slow networking in the age of algorithms?
– How do you decide who to invest time and trust in here?
– Have you ever been surprised by a connection that turned into something meaningful later?
– What’s your “fox rule” for building trust?