The Networker
September is the back to school and get back into the routine month. It’s often filled with busy school schedules, kids activities, and squeezing the last bit of sunshine before fall arrives. Not to mention our work lives of owning a business, working for a local business, or a part time side hustle as well as our volunteer opportunities. We can run ourselves out of time and energy. So here are a few tips to take care of YOU!
- Get plenty of rest.
- Eat a balanced diet and allow yourself a treat at times.
- Practice saying no. And if this is difficult for you, use the standard line of “I’ll have to get back to you on that” to buy yourself time to think about if you want to commit to what is being asked of you.
- Exercise regularly as it relieves stress and releases endorphins (feel good) in your brain. Sex does the same thing.
- Spend time with the people you enjoy spending time participating in activities you like.
- Spend some time by yourself, even if it’s locking the bathroom door while you shower.
- Do something nice for yourself every day and you get to pick what that is.
- Spend time with your girlfriends. There is nothing better to pick you up that spending time laughing and enjoying good conversation with girlfriends. Wine helps too.
- Eliminate people and things in our lives that are negative, toxic, and draining. You deserve better and you are worth it.
- Put yourself first and give yourself permission to be “selfish” in this area. You have to be filled up before you can pour into others. Give it a try. And you’re not really being selfish. You are loving yourself and modeling that to others.
I hope you all have a great month getting back into the school and structured routines that fall brings every year. Take care of you by putting yourself first. You are worth it!
The Networker
One of the greatest things about leadership is that we all bring something different to the table. If you were to read articles on good leadership qualities, you would usually see factors like integrity, effective communication and influence. These are all wonderful qualities of a leader, but I am going to share something I believe has made me stand out as a leader — putting my people ahead of myself.
I do believe that some people are born leaders and learn throughout life to become better leaders. One of the best lessons I learned was that it is not about me. When I made the transition from valuing myself to valuing my people, I was transformed as a leader. My mentor John Maxwell, in his book “Everyone Communicates, Few Connect” writes, “When we learn to turn our focus from ourselves to others, the whole world opens up to us.” When you understand this and take the focus away from you, it will change who you are as a leader.
I’d like to share some ways you can work toward valuing your people more:
- View your people as your biggest success. A good leader supports those around them. Your focus should be on developing them, helping them succeed, and watching them grow into the people they want to become. When your people are successful, it is a reflection on you as a leader. Work hard on your people. They are your biggest asset. Without them, your team can fail.
- Acknowledge and appreciate people. Everyone wants to be valued. It is critical as a leader to give your people credit and recognition for the incredible things they do. One of the reasons people leave a job is because they feel underappreciated. A leader should never take the credit for the work that their people do. A good leader is a generous leader who recognizes people. Work recognition into the culture of your team. Make a conscious effort to call out your top producers in a recurring meeting. When others see a coworker being recognized, it infuses motivation into your team. Everyone will work harder to be the next person whose hard work is recognized.
- Know your people. I mean really know them. Sure, you may know their names and their positions and what they are working on, but do you really know them? Do they have children? Do you know where they came from? Do you know what they have done in their lives before they started working with you? Most importantly, do you know their hopes and dreams? Getting to know them in a more personal way will make them feel valued and increase their respect for you as a leader.
- Leave your ego at the door. People are going to do better than you. You will have people on your team who have significant achievements. They may get another degree, get a certification, or move on to a new position. One of the biggest compliments you can receive as a leader is to have one of your people move on to a better opportunity. Be proud, not jealous.
- Empower your people. Everyone wants to be trusted to make decisions. Empower your people to make certain decisions. Do not short change them. Allow them opportunities to shine rather than discounting their abilities and doing it yourself. Do you have a big presentation coming up with your executive team? Allow one of your top performers to give the presentation instead. Being empowered will make them confident and help them strive for larger-than-life goals.
Leadership is both a gift and a privilege. You can erode the cohesion of your team if you fail to value them. Everyone on the team deserves to be valued. Each one of them performs an essential part to keep the engine of your company running. When you can put your people’s needs and interests before your own, you will be a more successful leader.
Leadership: it’s Not About You
Amy Modglin, Community Voice
Forbes Coaching Council
Submitted by Debbie Pack, President-Elect
97.9 The Breeze
The Networker
As I ponder what article to share in the Women’s Networker Newsletter, I search through my stack of books and come across this note I copied:
“Change is more likely to occur as fruit that grows on a tree properly watered, fed, and cared for. More specifically, change is the result of what we dwell on; what we fill our minds with, what we invest our time in.” – Dr. Greg Swenson, Psychologist Rapid City, South Dakota
Finally, I decide the best thing I could share is to encourage people to read more. Take time to read. My boss, Mike Alley, is always bringing in books he has read and talks about audiobooks he is listening to. Every month I receive an email from someone playing the Find-The-Coffee-News-Guy contest and a statement on the email reads, “If librarians ruled the world, reading would be a varsity sport.” I thought that’s terrific, but also sad that it is not true in our world.
As I am reviewing this idea, I read an article in the New Yorker about bibliotherapists.
“Can Reading Make You Happier?” (Ceridwen Dovey, June 9, 2015).
“For all avid readers who have been self-medicating with great books their entire lives, it comes as no surprise that reading books can be good for your mental health and your relationships with others, but exactly why and how is now becoming clearer, thanks to new research on reading’s effects on the brain… A 2011 study published in the Annual Review of Psychology, based on analysis of fMRI brain scans of participants, showed that, when people read about an experience, they display stimulation within the same neurological regions as when they go through that experience themselves. Bibliotherapy is a very broad term for the ancient practice of encouraging reading for therapeutic effect.”
You can read more about this.
Submitted by Lori Paulsen-Sauser, Treasurer
Black Hills Coffee News | Exit Realty Black Hills
The Networker
One day an old man was walking down the beach just before dawn. In the distance he saw a young man picking up stranded starfish and throwing them back into the sea. As the old man approached the young man, he asked, “Why do you spend so much energy doing what seems to be a waste of time?” The young man explained that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun. The old man exclaimed, “But there must be thousands of starfish. How can your efforts make any difference?” The young man looked down at the starfish in his hand and as he threw it to safety in the sea, he said, “It makes a difference to this one!”
At times in our lives, we have all been the old man, the young man, or the starfish.
Sometimes, as the old man, we don’t see the purpose to actions. We are so focused on what appears to be the futility of the situation or the seemingly massive obstacles we face that we don’t even look at the possibilities of what we could do and instead only see what we can’t. Just imagine what a difference could have been made if the old man had joined in and helped the young man in saving the starfish. They could have even started a movement where everyone on the beach that day joined in and helped. As a team, they might have saved every one.
Sometimes we are the starfish who just needs a little help. Wouldn’t you hope there was someone out there who was willing to take the time to save you?
And sometimes we are in the role of the young man; we persevere and make a difference. We often face the ridicule of others or the unintended discouraging comments of those who like to tell us that they’ve tried this before and it didn’t work or give us all the countless reasons this is a waste of time. Even if it is only one starfish, when we stay the course, we make a difference, and maybe next time the nay-sayers will join us instead of standing by and watching. If we want to make a change, we must embody that change first.
Saving starfish doesn’t usually require big actions. Just spending time and genuinely caring about people is really all you need to do. You have likely saved hundreds of starfish in your life, and never even realized it. So who will be your starfish today?
Submitted by Lorie Vega, Secretary
Ellsworth AFB 28th Force Squadron
The Networker
Networking basics has several elements. Ask any successful business person and they will tell you that professional networking is one of the most important elements — if not the most vital one – in moving your career forward. But even though it is so familiar among professionals, it is also one of the most underused career enhancement methods for success. Following are some ideas for you to know about networking.
What Is Networking?
Networking is the process of building and maintaining mutually beneficial connections with like-minded individuals through sharing resources and information and supporting each other. Strong relationships are built on competence, trust, fairness, honesty professionalism, punctuality, confidentiality and being upfront. One of the most important things about networking is being willing to collaborate with your connections instead of competing with them; you should also be willing to go the extra mile to help them and not just look at what they can do for you.
Everyone has networking experience, just not in those specific terms. Think about it: meeting someone or making a new friend is actually a form of networking. There are two different types of networking: social and professional networking.
Why Network?
Networking can be extremely beneficial for all professionals as it can help you at all stages of your career.
Helps You Get a Job. Networking is considered to be one of the most effective job hunting methods. Most people are able to find a job through networking, either through direct contact with a hiring manager or through referrals. If you are a hiring manager and are responsible for hiring someone into your company, would you rather hire someone you know and trust or a complete stranger? Having said that, some 80 per cent of jobs are never advertised, so by engaging with other professionals, you might end up getting hired in the hidden job market.
It’s the Biggest Predictor of Career Success. It provides different avenues to check out. According to some studies, simply being in an open network instead of a closed one is the best predictor of career success. An open network consists of people who act as nodes connecting different people and different groups – who can sometimes end up feeling disconnected and misunderstood. Having an open network can be quite challenging due to the constant conflicting perspectives you have to assimilate into your worldview. This is actually what makes open networks so valuable. By having all these different people together, with their varied backgrounds, you’re able to absorb the huge creative potential by combining ideas from different fields. When you are in a closed network, you are networking with people you already know and stay in the same industry, religion or political party. It, therefore, may be easier to get things done due to the trust you’ve built up with your existing connections.
So here are some networking tips. By investing the time to build a strong and open network, your career will eventually reap the benefits. People in your network will start seeing you as a skilled professional and will reach out to you for services depending on your expertise.
- Find networking opportunities.
- Set a schedule. Now that you have found opportunities available to you, look at all the events in your area and select the ones you would want to attend.
- Pay for it and since you have invested in the event you create a commitment for yourself and this will ensure you attend.
- Research the event. Find out all about the event on the internet and seek out attendees and speakers on social media. Since you have connected with them and have learned of their content before you meet them in person, be sure you introduce yourself again when meeting them in person.
- Go alone. This is the best way, because if you go with someone, it may scare off potential introductions and your friend may intimidate some people. You can challenge yourself and seek others on your own. If others can do it, you can, too.
- Go for the loners. Groups are very hard to approach and impress, so just approach that one person standing in the corner all by themselves and strike up a conversation. You may share the same interests, so this means you have made yourself a new connection, just like that.
- Volunteer to work at the event. This is a great way to meet people and benefit you. Most importantly, it keeps you in the know. This provides you with the unique opportunity to meet and network with people who you may not have otherwise encountered as a simple attendee.
- Follow up. Now that you have networked with someone, you need to follow up with them and send an email or note so they remember you too.
- Hang out by the food. This may sound strange, but don’t worry. This is the place where every attendee will pass by at one point or another, meaning you will be able to see and interact with everyone there.
- Remember to have FUN. Generally speaking, the more positive your attitude and the more fun you have, the more people will approach you.
- Last, but not least, keep an up-to-date list. Create a list with all the connections you made at an event – regardless of whether you think you and your career can benefit from them. Write down the date you met, the date you sent them your first email, if and when they replied, each time you met and so on. These notes will come in handy in the future and will definitely remind you when you need to follow up with someone you haven’t been in touch with for some time.
Networking is just a time to make sure you connect with people and have a wonderful time while making your connection. Good Luck.
~ Submitted by Doris Ann E. Werlinger, Hospitality
