Day 12
Today’s Takeaway: Networking is the best tool you might not be using.
I feel like a whole new person!
If you’ve been following along on this journey (🙏❤️) you will know why today felt different. I woke up with a pep in my step. I slept till 7:30am, (which as a mom of school aged children IS sleeping in) I got the kiddos off to school, made myself a healthy breakfast, worked out, and finished Lesson 1 of the Art of Gathering workshop I’m taking. Then I grabbed a cup of tea (Wish it were a latte but trying to cut back 😂) and started a series of zoom meetings I like to call “Geek-outs.”
These are calls with people I have been connected to. Whether that be from warm intros from mutual colleagues, people I have sought out on my own, or others I’ve met at various networking events. It’s not a prerequisite to be in “my industry” either. In fact, these calls rarely have an agenda or even a clear goal. It’s literally to connect, tell your stories and find some common ground to “geek out” on.
Today it was a beautiful hodgepodge of topics. Connection tactics, house renovations, experience building, “coming up” stories and personal anecdotes. Some people might not see the benefit of spending 3hrs of their day on phone calls that have no visible gain. Those people would be wrong. I don’t make bold claims like that often. That someone is unequivocally incorrect about something. However, that opinion calls for it and here’s one anecdote why:
From 2011-2016 I worked at a non-profit in NYC called Hadassah. I was the senior EA to the president and CEO of the organization. I made it a point to create relationships with anyone that passed my desk. But I’ve always paid special attention to new employees. We’ve all been new at one point, it can be scary and it helps to have a friend to show you the ropes. There was one girl who I could see was struggling to find her place in the new job. So I befriended her. She ended up leaving the role before me, but we continued to talk and “geek-out,” together on occasion. A year after she left I got a call from her, “I have a recruiter friend who is looking for an executive assistant for a start-up leadership team. The role is too senior for me, but I told her how fabulous you are and she’s going to call you.”
That start-up was Trello.
The simple act of asking the new girl to get coffee and have a chat, eventually changed the entire course of my life.
One connection. ❤️
The moral of this story is not “make friends with people you might get something out of it later.” I could’ve never predicted that one introduction would be a game changer for me. Honestly, it was just a bi-product of an authentic act for a new teammate. But that act ended up teaching me a priceless lesson on the power of relationships and connection.
Moral of the story - Make genuine connections outside of your usual circles. If you’re not, networking is the best tool you’re not using.
