Building a Learning Network

So I have some questions for you about your early career, especially for young people who are watching you and who want to emulate some of the things that you have done. What was your first real job out of college? How did you get it?

Well, first of all, I had many, many jobs before and during and after college, everything from working in a deli to a dry cleaners to delivering newspapers. So, I did all kinds of things. But my first real job was at a small NGO in Washington working with North America, so Canada, Mexico and the US. And that was the first time I sort of got a flavor for policy and I think my sort of love of Mexico came out of that.

What do you do for them? How did you even get that job?

You know, it's interesting as you get jobs in D.C., many times it was word of mouth. It was through I was doing an internship and someone at the internship knew someone at the NGO. And so then it ended up working out. So I think that sort of lateral network at the internship really helped tremendously.

So that segues nicely into my next question, which is for young people who are trying to build a network, are there bits of wisdom you can pass on regarding what's the best way to go about doing that?

I think it's a great question. I mean, first is building a network is really important. The strategy I always pursued was not to build a network for the sake of the network, but to find those people that I gravitated toward and where I felt like I could learn something. And so that means there are people I agreed with, people I disagreed with on policy. That wasn't the criteria. It wasn't a political network. It was a learning network. And it was a network that in many cases I've stayed in touch with people for decades because there's just kind of a natural affinity. There are people that I care about and who are my friends and who have introduced me to other people. And you build trust. And so that's how you go about it. I would also say it's really important to think of your network. Many people tend to look up at the more senior people, the more senior levels, look laterally, look around at your peers, because your peer group, whether you're in school or out, just out in the workforce, that peer group is going to move with you through your life and through your career. And that peer group may end up being just as important as the senior person you happen to meet.

That is great advice. And they can also understand what you're going through because they're kind of at a similar stage in their lives.