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Dropinceo > Blog > 2024 > April

The Networking Conundrum: Warding off unwanted connections and those that will pay dividends.

We’re bombarded on Linkedin and Email with people offering services for pain points we don’t have; we become numb to all people knocking on our door.

The result of all this noise is most people ignore or close the door on everything when in fact you might be hurting your career by not building a network.

The other thing I see wrong is we’re so isolated by our career and other activities, we don’t invest in a network. So many of the people I’ve met soon realize that is their demise when they need a network to further their career opportunities.

My advice to you is to find a way to triage the unwanted messages you get and delete those. The rest of the ones that seem like real humans, be open to vetting them if they’re open to just getting to know each other and schedule those conversations. More importantly, if it’s an old colleague who you were on good terms on, most definitely open the door and let them in.

Just yesterday, I had a conversation from someone I worked with over 15 years ago and it was like we never stopped talking. The conversation flowed and the experience was rewarding. Whether we connect again or not, it was memorable and that is enough.

Another person was brave enough to accept my invitation to connect; someone in my field and I was curious about them. The conversation was amazing and I am pleased to have found my next inspirational leader to drop in on my podcast. I never would have found such talent unless a) I was curious and sent the invite and b) the individual being open to networking and unknown possibilities.

Oh, and one other piece of advice… never burn a bridge.

Sometimes we leave bad cultures or bosses and leave behind people. Nurture those relationships too. I have found career and business opportunities from people that reconnect with me after 5-10 years. These have been some of the best opportunities I’ve experienced.

Be open to receiving new invites, be proactive in seeking new connections and always nurture the ones from the past. This is your networking capitol at work and your best in vestment in your future.

If you haven’t figured it out, I’m a huge proponent of networking. After being in business over 5 years, this has been one of the pillars of staying viable.

If we have not met, this is an open invitation to connect and form real human connection.

If you enjoy my content, please consider signing up for my weekly newsletter for more insights and resources to support your career.

Until we meet, I wish you well and much success! – Deb

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How to Lean Into Your Leadership Legacy

Marketing Strategies are broken because they lean into your pain points and tell you how they can fix you.

How many people out there are saying you are great and how can I help you to be greater?

Not many I bet you!

Marketing guru’s create a narrative that you’re broken and when people adopt that, it’s a tool to get you to buy services you don’t need.

What would it look like to lean into your leadership greatness to leave a legacy?

How many people are out there to help you on this journey to greatness?

Sure, there are publicists and media relations people that say you can promote yourself to get into the spotlight, but that’s not for everyone.

I propose you can do all of this yourself to leave a lasting impact and here’s how:

Get your thought leadership out to a broader audience!

You have what it already takes to be a thought leader and impact more people you can image. Consider taking your purpose, your talking points and leadership insights to more speaking events. Consider a podcast or even writing a book. It builds your credibility and your reach can be so much greater. You already have leadership figured out. Why waste it by not sharing it with others.

Mentorship is a gift!

If you prefer more intimate conversations to inspire people, consider mentorship or even better yet, start a program where you work. It doesn’t take much to set it up and with a simple structure, you can impact people on a deeper level. By the way, if you’ve had a mentor in the past, make sure you reach back out to them to let them know their impact. Giving the gift of mentorship one person at a time can leave a lasting impact for this and future generations of leaders.

Build a powerful network!

Connection is what humanity is about and we survive as a civilization because of our connection with other humans. By investing time in building not just vanity metrics, but deep connections, we build a set of advocates for what we stand for. They have your back when you need support, but they can also amplify your brand and personal to others who have not met you yet. Take advantage of building a powerful network as part of leaving your legacy. The worse time to build a network is when you’re out of work and need it. Build it during good times and they’ll have your back when the time is right.

In about 2 minutes, I’ve suggested ways to lean into your leadership legacy because you’re already great. I hope you can use some of these tips as you think about your future and the impact you want to make. If this was helpful, let me know. If you know of another great leader who might benefit from this, please share this article with them.

If I can be in service to you and you want to add me to your network, let’s talk and see how we can make you even greater!

If you want to learn more, I recently was on a Linkedin Live on 16 April where you can hear the full conversation on this topic. It will also be a future Podcast & YouTube episode for you to share with others.

Until we meet, I wish you well and much success!

-Deb

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How to Manage the Mental Mayhem of Delayed Responses

The recruiter is not calling you back.

The job opportunity is put on hold.

The manager is out of office.

The client is not responding to your proposal.

The list goes on and on for which there is a growing trend of Mental Mayhem plaguing professionals today trying to navigate their next opportunity. We don’t prepare professionals for these challenges and instead they fester over what “is not” happening vs. what “is” happening.

I call this Mental Mayhem because as professionals we are results driven with heroic skills to “get things done”. When it’s out of our control, nothing we do can force something to happen. And there lies the Mental Mayhem when nothing we do seems to work.

I’m going through the same challenge right now for which my coach inspired an A HA moment in me that may help you as well.

When we think about what we cannot effect, think about everything you did up until this point to reach a point where the world is saying “No”. You took control of your situation, researched the opportunity, composed an email or set up a call and engaged in healthy dialog or interaction that appeared to be going in the right direction. When you hit a wall and nothing has happen, I propose to you that actually something did happen and it’s up to you to decide what to do next.

Given the world is saying “No”, you have a choice. You can continue to bang on that door and waste energy or quickly pivot, leverage what you learned and pursue another direction. Gone are the days that you should feel victim to circumstances, but quickly take these events and move on… quickly.

Had you not done all that work to get to this point you may not have tested your value, updated your resume or made 2-3 connections in the meantime. You have moved the needle and like my coach said; celebrate the wins that got you to this point in time. It’s not the actual result, but it’s about the journey.

As we speak, I’ve had no-shows to meetings, I’ve re-opened doors that I thought I should shut and, I’ve shut doors that looked promising, but my gut said they were not. Each day we have a choice to move forward or sideways, but never feel stuck or retract.

That is my thought for you to Manage Mental Mayhem. If there is a delayed response to something you are pursuing, pursue those things in your control. It’s a healthy state of being and will serve you well while navigating the obstacles of delayed responses.

What Mental Mayhem have you had to Manage? I’d love to know. When you share, you inspire others.

Be well-Deb

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