I’m continuously amazed that networking is so much much more gratifying and fruitful when I take the time to meet with people face to face. I recently had lunch with a networking contact named Connie. It had been four years since we sat down face to face. Over that period, we have stayed in touch [read more]
This past weekend, I was asked a compelling networking question by a sixteen year old girl. She inquired: “What do you do when you have to network with a really boring person?” Background I was invited to speak to a dozen teen girls who were participating in a special program called myRetreat™ to build their [read more]
Last week I had the opportunity to speak to 65 college sophomores at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. My topic, of course, was networking. My goal was to motivate them with my call to action: “pre-launch your career…start networking now.” I emphasized that young professionals need to be just as good at networking off-line as [read more]
This week’s networking tip is contributed by the talented and motivated Karen Hinds, founder of Workplace Success Group, LLC and creator of The Power of Distinction Program. I have been watching Karen for several years and I’ve been impressed with her skill, passion and boldness. Karen is currently organizing a 2013 Phenomenal Woman’s Conference in [read more]
Last week I spoke at the Bay Path College Women’s Leadership Conference in Springfield, MA. Their conference theme was “Lead with Compassion” and they had three heavy hitting keynote speakers: Sister Helen Prejean (author of Dead Man Walking), Majora Carter (my new hero in urban planning for social justice) and actress and humanitarian, Ashley Judd. [read more]
Think about what you are wearing and how you are wearing it. The professional image that you choose to portray during a networking meeting or in any business encounter will send a strong visual communication to the other person. People derive meaning from your appearance, just like they do any other kind of non-verbal communication. [read more]
When I reflect on my long and wonderful career life, the images of many mentors pop into my head and bring a smile to my face. People like Simon Fraser, Gary Mulloy, Ted Fleming, my aunt Hermine Garcia, Yo Canny, Maureen Connor. These are just a few of the people who took a special interest [read more]
With so many electronic options at our fingertips, it’s easy to migrate all of your networking interaction to the digital world. You can meet people you didn’t know before very easily on Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter. You can read their profiles and quickly figure out where they’ve been and what they’ve done. Networking follow-up is [read more]
It’s back-to-school time for kids and return to the rigors of the academic schedule: up early in the morning, classes all day, homework in the afternoon, and Facebook and texting when the parents aren’t looking. I went searching on-line to find out exactly how much time teens are spending on Facebook and other media sites. [read more]
Your professional network should include people from different generations, different cultures, different industries and with different experiences. Diversity is a huge benefit from a networking point of view. It will strength you and your business opportunities. So, why would you want to… network with someone much younger than you in age and experience, such as [read more]
