Get comfy, everyone! Auntie Hanna has a little story for you:
Within 6 months, I had two part-time jobs in my chosen field; a year later I had a full-time job in a great organization with benefits.
Working from a starting place of just two people on my contact list, by the time I interviewed for the full-time position, I knew everyone on the interview panel.
OK, just kidding. However, what I've learned over time is that the world runs on relationships. My entire work history – from my first babysitting job to my latest coaching client – has origins in a relationship I had or made.
Regardless of where you are in your career — new professional, mid-career, or legacy — the skills that apply to getting a job don't stop there: making and building professional relationships are critical leadership skills.
Building professional relationships doesn't have to be about selling or marketing yourself, or any of those "yucky" things; building professional relationships is about being who you are authentically, and connecting with others about topics that are of common interest.
Networking – which is just one way these skills can be used – can actually be about fulfilling your purpose, about making a difference on the topics that matter to you.
Sounds pretty good, huh? But why post about this, when my basic stance as a coach is one not of advice giving, but drawing out answers from others? With the great uptick in networking requests I've been seen in my own world, I'm feeling compelled to break a rule or two to share what I know about this topic.
So, all this week, I'll be giving you my top tips for professional relationship building. And, I invite you to share what you've learned about this topic from your own experience — let's connect!
Before specializing as a professional coach in 2004, I spent more than a decade in leadership, management and program development for state and local government and non-profit organizations. Now I get to help leaders and teams have more clarity and ability to stand up for what's important in their work and in their organizations. Working with me, leaders and teams find more meaning and purpose, feel happier and more confident, navigate change and conflict, and work together better.
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