Shelly Lombard

That is so smart. Quality connections over quantity.

At Schmooze, we say "The right business relationships can close gaps between where you are & where you want to be, whether that's a promotion, a career pivot, or a board role. (1) Don't forget internal relationships inside your company. As Denise Reese said when we interviewed her, "Your internal network can help you read the room & keep your job." (2) Leave the job but take your internal relationships with you. In our interview with Keri-Lynne Shaw, she gave great advice for how to do this. My former summer intern is now the #2 guy at a major hedge fund! (3) Stay in touch with everyone. I dropped a Happy New Year message to 2 men who had been on a corporate board with me. Two weeks later, they called me about a board seat, which I got.

Two women I interviewed for my Schmooze newsletter mentioned curiosity. No one is ever indispensable. But these women - Maria Doughty & Bijou Abiola - were noticed and then mentored by senior people who noticed that they were genuinely curious - about what & how their companies were doing, outside of their day to day roles; about how they could improve their own job performance; about how they could add value. No one is indispensable. But you can make sure you’re seen and valued.

For Schmooze (my LinkedIn newsletter), I interviewed (Jené Elzie) who described how she built her own network when she relocated to London for work. After starting with her alumni contacts and then meeting a few more people, she started hosting monthly dinners (take out!). More people, other expats & people in her industry started coming, and voila(!) she had created a professional network from scratch in her new city. So if you belong to any national networks, eg Greek or alumni associations, industry associations, industry-agnostic groups like Athena, Fourth Effect, How Women Lead, etc, start there by connecting with the local chapters and members in that city.

My failure (to maintain my network of business relationships) was the impetus for creating Schmooze. So I tell my story. There are always people who have or who are struggling with the same thing you failed at. So being vulnerable and telling your story is an opportunity to create connections with, help, and support those people. I ended up experimenting, iterating, and creating a business from my failure.