Not Something Nice Girls Do

What role does networking play in your leadership success? And how do you go about building your network and then expanding your network?

So, first I think that women actually shy away from networking. Networking sounds like it's craven, it's not something nice girls do. And it drives me crazy. Because actually studies have shown that you don't get your next opportunity from your close network, you get it from your far network is the people who are like, oh, it's the periphery because the people in your close network, you already have those same information. It's actually people further away that will give you open doors for you. That will give you new opportunities, give you a different way of looking at the world. And then rather than networking for the sake of networking, I actually look at how can you actually build a community? And I calling it building a community, sounds much more in line with the kinds of things I know.

And so what are the communities that you're in? Who are the people you're spending time with? And how can they actually help you? And really then participating in communities is important. So are you in a mentoring circle or a lean in group? Are you actually attending these, these dinners like women in product had for many years where you're meeting people from far flung companies that you had never heard of, where they're telling you about the kinds of things that they're doing, that you could never have imagined. These are the kinds of things that transform your career. And so I think often we treat networking like it's a chore, but instead if you say, hey, I want to build community with people who have something in common, I want to learn from them. It totally changes your perspective.

It does take work. You have to put effort into it. There are times when I'm so exhausted. I don't want to go moderate enough panel on a weekend after a long work week. But always by the end of the evening, I am so glad I came because I learned something, I met amazing, interesting new people.

You only get out of it, what you put into it. And so if you bring your full self and you're excited, other people will be excited with you. If you share your ideas at the table, others will actually respond to that. Energy begets energy. And so what I treat about these community events and these connection events and these groups is if you bring something to the table, other people will respond in kind.