Tonight is actually a conversation, not a presentation, a conversation on networking for professional success. Whether you are thinking about a business, whether you are inside a career or freelancing, or just staying home, whatever you do, networking is a really important tool to leverage to improve your outcomes.

Welcome to upSkill Talks. I'm your host, Michel Shah lead UpSkiller at UpSkill Community. UpSkill Talks is a podcast for leaders, leaders who are actively seeking innovative and creative ways to interact lead themselves and others. In every episode, through real life stories and enlightening conversations, we will explore the challenge. And opportunities real leaders face in today's everchanging workplace. We will present you with real strategies for you to leverage your soft skills and produce transformative results. Thank you for joining me on this journey. Let us begin.

What is networking? You know, networking is, uh, you know, putting yourself out there and connecting with other people. It's like, uh, maybe going to a party with strangers, you know, and. Getting outside of your comfort zone, saying, hi, how are you? Making yourself vulnerable, talking, listening, networking, and so on and so forth. Yeah. All right. Um, Sylvia? I was going to type, but Yes. Yeah, Nick. Oh, yeah. You, how you started it. Yes. So meeting strangers, connecting with them to learn, to grow, to, to do everything because, uh, you never know where the next opportunity is. Mm-hmm. And, uh, this is how we connect with one another. We connect everywhere. And I like to say when we teach reading, we say read anywhere, anytime for any reason. And I think networking anywhere, anytime, for any reason. It's really, um, more about cultivating, carefully cultivating relationships. The word process I've highlighted because that is like the key to this. Networking is not something you wake up and do at an event. Networking is a process that's the part that most people miss. And that's why I'm gonna spend a lot of time talking about that tonight because a lot of people feel like networking is something we go out, we do. And sorry, I. We do it. And then, you know, we, we sort of learn from each other. We learn from each other and that means networking in our minds. There's a misconception around what it is. And I remember going to an event, I was invited as faculty to an event, uh, a networking event for students, and a lot of professionals from all over the industry came and students were dressed up and they were prepared with their pitches and their elevator statements, and they were ready for this networking event. And as people gathered, I could tell. The professionals were guarded, the professionals were there chit chatting, but staying very light. There were so many people coming at them. They weren't even remembering names, they weren't remembering anything. People were just coming in quick, chit chat, five minutes and keeping it moving. That is sometimes the misconception of what we have, of what networking is. And it doesn't mean that we cannot make a connection that way, but that is a very, very simply not what networking is. Mm-hmm. So we're gonna dive into a little bit more of what it is. when I think about networking, it's like in the days when we were younger and, and would go to like a club, there would be that one guy who would be trying to hit on every single woman in the club. And as you saw him heading towards you, you, you have your hand up, you just drop down your shutters. Like, I don't want that guy beside me. I don't want him over where I am. I don't want him involved. Right. And this is what we don't understand about networking is that it's not that sort of attack mode. Just be lying to someone and go to them. That's not what networking is. Networking is a process. Okay. And that's really what we're gonna talk about of carefully cultivating relationships, not grabbing sufficient names to put in your, in your list or business cards. It's a process of carefully cultivating relationships. And that's what we're gonna talk about tonight. So what is the goal of networking? Make friends, professional friends. Make professional friends. To develop authentic relationships. Networking to, um, I guess to, to expand my reach and influence. That's a great response. Um, for me it's more of building connections. Uh, I guess you had it in the title, cultivating relationships. That's the goal. Cultivating relationships. Yes. That is the goal. The goal is, and so all of those are part of the process. I have Anita, welcome all of those that we're talking about. Cultivating relationship building, um, building relationships, building connections, influencing others, sharing resources is a great idea there. Sharing resources, those are all in order to hit the goal, which is to be known. The goal of networking is to be known, and what I mean by that is, I think it was, um, is it that has the hair company? You have your hair company? Yes. Okay. Talia, you have your custom design company. It's to be known where when you are sleeping in your bed at nighttime and I pick up the phone and call Sylvia and she says, I'm really struggling to figure out what to get. Christopher Father's Day. I can say to her, you know what? I know someone by the name of Thalia. She does custom stuff. Perhaps she could offer something for that. It's to be known, to have people saying your name, talking about your business, making connections for you, opening doors for you, referring you to people, mentioning you. It's to give other people what they need to know about you in order to support your goals. That's the goal of networking. It's to do all of those things. To do all the influencing and to do all of those things in order that someone will call you. Instead of you having to call everyone, someone will call you and ask you a question. Someone will call you and make you an offer. Someone will call you and ask you if you want a partner. Someone will call you to get your guidance, to share resources with you. That is the goal of networking, and I want to leave a moment for you to reflect on that goal and tell me what are your thoughts on that? How are you using that? How are you noticing that? What are your feelings about that? I've done a little bit of networking. Well, it's, it's pretty big for me. Mm-hmm. For one, I'm not very good at public speaking. Mm-hmm. Um, so for me to go out in the public and really talk to people, it's a little bit tricky. Mm-hmm. But I've done a little bit of networking. Um, And even push myself to do, um, coupons. Um, and I've gotten good feedback on how to do it properly and next time around, but mm-hmm. I've done a little bit and I feel like it, it brings me out of my comfort zone and yes, now I have more following stuff like that because now everybody knows like she does mobile, you know, so, and the convenience has make it easy for me to be known, so, okay. What, what do you mean by coupons? say, okay, so one that I've done is I've basically put like a free ro shirt in a little bag with like a coupon code. Like I, I put a code on. Oh, okay. Okay. Like, yeah. So that I, I go out and I, I'm networking and I offer it cuz I, well the problem now with that is some people can't have nuts, so I can't always give it to everybody. But yeah, that's, I've tried that. So you can't always give that particular Yes. Choice to everybody? Yes. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Nick, you were saying something. Talia has something in the chat. She said the more networking you do, the more connections you can make. Even when someone may utilize your business, they may know someone else. Even when they don't, they may know someone else who does. Very, very well said. Very well said, Nick. No, I mean, I mean, for me, listen to Michelle. The only, uh, I guess, uh, wisdom or analogy I can offer is, like I said earlier, it's like networking is like going to a party and you have to put yourself out there and, and by putting yourself out there, you meet people and people enjoy you, you enjoy them. They talk about you, they refer you, like you said, you become, uh, maybe trusted for certain skills, capabilities, things that you can bring and, and vice versa. You get to know them and what they offer. And so it becomes like a, a win-win networking for it to work well, um, is an opportunity for both who enjoy their relationship to win together. And, and, and if you do that, if you take that sort of wisdom into it, I think you'll do well in networking. Uh, if you embody win-win, uh, you know, whether it's personally at a party or professionally at an, uh, at an event or a, or something else. So I'm gonna touch a little bit on, um, the goal of networking. So you have to know your own purpose. Why are you networking? What is it that you want to achieve by networking? Because there are different ways to network based on your goal. So, for instance, Dalia says, the more networking you do, the more connections you can make. So there are some people who want to make a lot of connections. You have to make sure that that's what you want and that that is what will serve your needs best. For some people need to build a few very deep connections. You have to know what you're trying to achieve and how networking, how these connections will support that goal. So for instance, if you think about having 10,000 or a few million people who are in your network, let's say if you are like an influencer, you may spend time to cultivate that. But you could also spend time to cultivate one relationship with say, Oprah Winfrey, and then you would have to figure out the type of business you are in. Which of those makes more sense for you? Uh, I'll give up a few million followers to get a connection, a personal connection with Oprah Winfrey. Frankly, that would be the connection that I'm after. I talked about a piece that was really important to me, which was feeling safe enough to be in that space to actually say something, right? Because you might go to those events and. It could be a little bit overwhelming sometimes. Mm-hmm. So what I find is, for me, for example, if I have to go to something much larger, then I'd have to really think about it. And that was something that Lashanna had pointed out. Like, what is the goal of you attending some of these events? I kind of have to align with your brand because there could be so many events. But then, you know, um, how do you choose the one that makes sense for you and what you're trying to accomplish with your business? Um, and, and being known. And the other thing was just, you know, we talked about confidence and, um, when I talked about feeling safe in a safe space, I mean, if you're being invited, To come out to one of these networking events or it's something that's of interest to you, then you already know that the person is supportive. You already know that you're in a supportive environment. And my example was I had two events to go to and I wasn't sure which one to go to. Mm-hmm. And it was best for me to go, um, to the group that is more supportive, um, because you know that they're gonna highlight your business and highlight you than going to one that you might not be familiar with. Can I, can I just talk one thing to that? Um, like I've conversation started about usual unusual places and I started talk about, you know, getting those, getting to those unusual places, trying to get outta your comfort zone because I've been in usual places mm-hmm. And as much as been in usual places. I'm still in that comfort zone, right? I, I, I don't get out in confidence. People see me around the room, but I don't get out. So the biggest takeaway from this group is, is, is more learning to build your confidence in, in order to build true engagement, to build your brand, right? So you could be in those usual places, but yet you're not engaging yet, you're not billing your confidence and so people don't know your bread. Yeah. Yeah. I wanna ask a question to follow up on, on, um, primarily what you were talking about Lithia, in terms of you have two events to go to and you chose a more supportive environment. Um, and yes, you know that they're going to promote your brand and stuff like that. But, so the question I'm asking is how do you know for sure that the more supportive environment produces a greater results for you? That's a good question. Um, I don't, so I just thought it would just make more sense for me to, um, because of what the event is all about, it's just about uplifting and supporting mentoring in the community. Um, it would just gimme a broader reach and then I found out that the other event, I think it's monthly, so then I can just go to it next month. Okay. So that's choosing strategically. Yes. But I'll say to you, and I, I think it's important to, to make the statement, not all the spaces that support you are supportive to your goals and not all the spaces that are unsafe or unsupportive or uncomfortable are unsupportive. And so it's very important. It's very important that we dis dismantle the veil of needing the, to be comfortable, needing to be in these usual spaces, needing to feel like we're going to get supported. Sometimes you have to go in and wear your mask, wear your armor, and get into these spaces so that you're known in these spaces. So then that these spaces open up for you and become safe by virtue of you putting yourself in there and opening them, spreading it open for yourself. Because I, I agree. And you can assume you're gonna be supported. You have to assume that you're gonna be yourself. Mm-hmm. And that natural gravitas mm-hmm. Will make you supported because the authenticity mm-hmm. Will stand out. You know, I see in the category three and four strangers in listening to me. These are very exciting topics, meaning strangers and listening to ideas. Being open and, and unbiased and no prejudice to different stuff. And, and I think those naturally attract, um, what you've described, Michelle. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Absolutely. Lena. Thank you Nick. I just wanna say this, I didn't get to say it in the group, uh, around strangers. I've been to an event and this young lady named Chantel and her business is called T S K Wealth. Um, and she was kind of breaking down some of the stuff that we are taught, especially from like, um, a parent, like a parent teaching us, like don't talk to strangers was one of the one thing that she brought up. And she's like, let's be real. We don't even know half the people in the room right now. But as strangers, we're here for the same purpose of networking and learning, um, about each other's business learning, you know, so. That's another thing that, um, is very impactful towards networking. And I think it goes along the line with what, um, his name Dwayne said, where like, you are still there, but you're still kind of strange to people. So then you kind of stick to yourself. Whereas with networking, you have to kind of push yourself out of your comfort zone to talk and get to know each other. Thank you. So I, I think this, this childhood trauma of strangers takes us into this space, but I always say to my kids that, um, I was a stranger to your father before we became family. So just understand that's, you know, it's important strangers. Are people who we need to build a relationship with to make them family or friends or partners or whatever. We start off as strangers. Strangers is not the full state. It's the starting point and then it's our responsibility to move the ball forward. Alright. What do you guys mean by follow up in chief in, uh, category for I definitely, that is, um, mine in terms of following up with other people, following up, building on pursuing the connections. Networking is not making a connection, it's building an authentic relationship. So that piece where I say the follow up per in chief, that is what takes you to the next place. That is what makes you outstanding. In, in, in networking, the little curtises, it's not the big thing, it's not going to these big events. It's you already, like I did a training downtown at, um, TIFF last week and I had to do, in the midst of that training, I had like a half an hour session that I needed to attend. And I asked the head of HR if she could book a room for me to do that. So I would take my lunch at that time and do that. And she booked the room for me and she says, you know, you have it for longer time. And she brought a lunch for me during that time so that I had a lunch and when I was done, I've never been to the Bell light box before. Um, another person in the training department took me around on a tour. Of course, I come home and you know, it's Friday, so I'm looking for a glass of wine and I'm done remembering anything about training. But the following week, when my head gets back into it, I'm going to write. I write and say, by the way, thank you so much for taking the time to book. This really helped, you know, really made a difference for me. Next person, thank you very much for the tour. Really makes me feel that is, that is, um, I cannot even begin to tell you how absolutely important that is. I reached out to someone very recently, said, hi. Just thinking about you haven't heard your voice for a long time. Hope you're doing well. You know what happened on the back end of that? Oh, I actually was thinking of you and I, I want to use your podcast in a course and I'm hoping that we can meet and talk about it. That meetings book tomorrow. I don't think she was thinking about me. I think when I wrote to her, it reminded her of me. Does that make sense? So when you are communicating with people Yes. Follow on your commitments. Yes, follow on your commitments, but. Include gratitude and appropriate levels of courtesy and really care, just like, not just use people. One of my colleagues who usually joins us on here night, Diana, she, she has a term that I find hilarious. She says, people are user-friendly. Those are the people who only use you for, for something. They don't, you can smell, you can smell them a mile away. Yeah. You, they only, they don't, when you hear from them, even if they don't say it immediately, you know they're going to ask you something. We call them user-friendly. You don't want to be one of those that every time someone sees your number, they started wonder what he wants. Now I wonder what she wants now, because that's the only time you remember the person. Does that make sense? So cultivating that authentic relationship is touching base. The listening is essential for this because if you're not listening, noticing and making some notes somewhere, you're not going to have the information to maintain the continual extreme of communication. So when I, when I started, um, connecting with Nick, I, he said something and his, I heard his wife's name. I quickly write down his wife's name. I shouldn't tell you my system, Nick. So when I'm talking to him next, I know his wife's name. So I can say, how is staff? It's just a very simple thing, but He's, it took me a while to remember how his name, but, uh, see, you notice I could mention Sylvia's husband's name. It's important that you are, when I talked earlier and I mentioned Sylvia, what would she get? Christopher Father's Day. This is what I'm talking about. It's, you have to be listening, but not the kind of listening that you're thinking about. You ne you are listening for key pieces of information to support the development of that relationship. So if you see in my phone, Nick's name is in there with his wife's name and his daughter's name, so then I can forget those names every time. I need to remember the names. They're right with his name. Oh my God. You're a strategic, uh, individual. So that's, that's what it's not. I'll put in the, uh, at another box instead of company. I'll write child's name. And so I, I have a system for networking. It's not by accident. That I'm networking. It's not by accident. If I'm speaking to someone today and they said it's their birthday, I'm entering that now. I won't next year, I'm going to remember. I guess you have to find a system that works for you too. You know, like you have to. Yeah. So, and it could be different for each individual. It'll be different. Yeah. The key piece that I wanna flag up here is that it's a process. It's not a an instance, it's not going out and getting somebody's contact information. It's the process of cultivating carefully that relationship. Okay. So let's get from the other team and then we can continue. Let's hear from the other team. One and two. Okay. I guess I'm representing our, our group both. We talk about, I mean, we touch on a few things, like being authentic is, is what we, what I, what we think, I think is, is one of the most important things to. To illustrate to other people, because I think they resonate with your authenticity. Um, and being open and friendly. If you're the kind of person who, you know, may come off a little, you know, ignorant or know-it-all or whatever, they may not gravitate to you at all. And they, they may not refer you to anybody. They, they're just not gonna work with you at all. Mm-hmm. Um, so it's very important to be authentic and to be open and friendly also to like, um, be aware of your values and goals. You know, if there are people you are networking with and they just don't align with, you know, the values that you have or the goals that you have, maybe it's, it's just not gonna work and that's okay. Not every business is good business and not every good net, not every network is a good network and it, it's not something that has to be forced because there's always another network or another connection that you can make. You don't have to force something to be there if it's just not there. Cause it's just gonna have a negative impact, um, on your business or, or what could come down the road. Mm-hmm. And, and we spoke about setting boundaries, but you know, Nick also mentioned like pushing your boundaries coming out of your comfort zone. Like you don't have to like, like, especially like someone like me, like I'm not used to like, say speaking in front of a lot of people, but I know that, you know, speaking deals with networking and I have to get accustomed to that in order to help build my business and build my connections. Um, and then also working with like personal relationships. Sometimes those, like we were speaking about those business connections or those networking relationships, um, end up being personal relationships where now like you're going on trips together, your kids are playing together, all the, because of the authenticity that you, you know, showed in the beginning. Mm-hmm. Uh, I think we spoke about a few other things. I don't know if Sylvia and Nick wanna chime in, but I, I, I wanna touch on just one thing that we didn't touch but came to mind and I think it's important to say is, and, and it reminds me of what you just said also, Dwayne, if we are shy and we are not able to, Transcend as easily, you know, like if you watch Michelle swim through a room of people, like it's different, right? And other people don't have whatever we wanna call it, the wherewithal, the the, the outgoing personality, anything. And we have to recognize that. But also work, don't we have not to let that be the reason why we don't do it. We just do a different scale. So if large scale is too much, do a different scale, maybe arrive ahead of time and be at the registration table and connect with people one-on-one because it's much easier as opposed to swimming into a big room cause. Networking is important and it has to be intentional and it has to be a process, and it doesn't have to happen all at once. I guess it that goes to the fast and slow, but recognize who you are in this process and what works for you. So sending a little letter or maybe meeting with the person before or volunteering, like if you volunteer for the event, you are networking at a different level in a different scale and people still come to see you and still you still get to get the connections without the stress. So finding corners of that networking space that is so big allows you to actually still fulfill your goals to be known without ignoring who you are in the process. This is something we didn't get to discuss, but I think it's important to include in our discussion. Mm-hmm. Yes. Um, I think what you are talking about is. Intentionality and authenticity is so important. You touched on Sylvia, that we don't all need to use the same approach. Uhhuh, somebody can be going, going hard and somebody takes it slow. The key thing is you need to know what you're doing, why you're doing it, but you also have to know how you're doing it and it needs to match your style, your preferences, your pace, all of those things. I'm gonna share a story with you. Um, many years ago, I didn't have an Instagram account. I'm a LinkedIn user primarily, and I set up an an Instagram account because there's one particular person that I wanted to connect with that was not on LinkedIn. They were on Instagram. And so in the process though, I followed a few people and found this one person who we had at that time. Both of us had 80 followers. That was a long time. And um, that was, we were feeling good. That was pre covid days. Anyways, when I found what happened about two weeks after I'd set up the account, the person that I really wanted to connect with, I got connected with. And to me, I'm just really trying to work my magic to te that person closer and closer to a text message so I don't have to be on Instagram. Okay. So that took me about a year to have that person communicating with me in a, in a, in the format that I prefer. So the Instagram remained there. The, the person that I connected with grew from 80 followers in the next three years to a hundred and about 80 followers. I think I probably added a hundred over that time. Kudos to her. It takes a lot of effort to grow your following that way. What ended up happening though, is that the, I am not able to support an Instagram account that does what that kind of growth strategy requires. But I don't need to do that because I have no strategy that that growth and followers on Instagram is going to support. Okay. What happened though is this particular person ended up after achieving that many followers, having to shut it down, close down, hand back, everybody their money and close the door. I'm not sure what happened. I'm not sure how that came to be. The point I'm making is don't rush to follow anybody else to network in their way to grow your following, in their way to do things their way. Authenticity means doing it your way, but what I will encourage you to do though is to disrupt. Disrupt the usual ways of doing things. Try some new approaches, try some new people, try some new spaces, build out some new comfort. And I'm gonna give you a few strategies before we wrap up tonight. We could talk about this for a while, but the first thing is your mindset. If you begin to think, there are only some places where people show up that I can connect with. So you'll focus yourself on these formal events where it's structured and miss out on the opportunities at somebody's backyard. Last week I was invited to a backyard event, went to this backyard event, and um, Nick, you'll find this interesting. I'm talking to someone who is the owner of one of the big tech companies and a venture capitalist. The person just came and sat beside me at the fire and said, this seems like the most comfortable place to be. It's through the conversation, I realized who I'm sitting with. I'm sharing jokes about my husband and his need to buy all these tech tools in another group, and I meet another guy who says, your husband sounds like me. And finding out we connected share. The phone number texted when I came home and checked, who is this person I'm surprised to find out is one of the Bay Street VPs? I have no way to meet up with these individuals. They're not in my network. I'm not in their field. I have no way of meeting up with them that happened because someone invited me to their backyard. Be careful that you are only looking out for opportunities that sound formal and structured The the small opportunities in the supermarket, in the park, or somebody walking their dog. The person walking their dog may be the person who can connect you to your next thousand customers. Everywhere you go, there are people who you need to know. Everywhere you go. So don't think there's only one place or which event. And waste your time searching for events that bring you nothing or keep you in your comfort zone. Time to step out of your comfort zone and find a new network. Augment your network. That's number one. Obviously you have to set networking goals. I'll be very frank about mine. My networking goal is to make sure that my, my network is very diverse and inclusive, so I wanna make sure I have people in my world from all different identifiable groups, non-identifiable groups. That is my goal. So I'm being intentional around that. So you have to know what your goal is because I'm not, my goal is not to find a particular person who gets me a particular thing. It's to broaden. And deepen the connections that I have. So I have diverse perspectives to share and different, um, things and cultures to learn about and people to learn from. That's my goal. You have to think about what yours is and you have to be very specific about it, the person, not the prospect. This is very important. A lot of times what we do is we say, you know, if I meet Oprah, she could probably connect me to Gail King, Steadman, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton. She can probably connect me to some people that I want to know, right? So you're not thinking about her as a person. You're thinking about her as a, a pathway to what you want to get. And when you think in that way, you will treat people that way and that will not be a good opportunity. You will not be building out the network that you think you're building out. So really important. Mutually beneficial relationships is what it needs to be. What's it for them? What do they get from you? Not only what do I get from them? You can go to that American saying, ask first what you can do for your country. Ask first what you can do for them. If you're busy helping people, busy supporting people, busy sharing resources with people busy caring about and looking out for people, you won't have to ask about how the relationship will be forged. Just take care of that. The relationships will take care of themselves and everything else that you're looking for and hoping for with networking will come. I've never had to worry about anyone that I've had an authentic relationship with. Come and look out for me. People that I have an authentic relationship with, they don't have to ask me to look out for them. It's the people who I don't really know, I don't really trust. I'm not sure what their intentions are, what their agendas are. Those are the people that I'm cautious about. Put my name. Forward for putting my neck out there for. So think about that. You don't have a problem. The people who you know well and you know support you, you'll put yourself out there for them. You'll recommend them easily, you'll support them. Share resources with them. That's also true for the people that you are thinking of networking with. How can you make them feel safe enough to open up their network currency, expose you to their networks, share their resources with you? How can you make sure that you build that credibility in their eyes to make them comfortable, to share a trade secret that will help you but could harm them because they shouldn't really share it with you? How can you make people feel like, yes, I can trust you to support you? Because if you are to support people at the next level, you have to be able to trust them. And that's where that brand comes from. When people know that they can trust you, when people believe in you, you begin to build your brand. When people know that you're not only a taker, but that there is reciprocity, you're not just there for what they can give you, but you also bring your own assets to the table. You bring skills, you bring insights, you bring knowledge, you bring a positive attitude, you bring energy, you bring humor, you bring different perspectives. Whatever it is that you bring, be aware of what you bring and how you present it in your social circles to build that brand. Peter Wilkin came and spent some time with us at Upskill and he said, our brand is not what we think it is. It's not what we write down on paper or publish. It's what sits in the collective consciousness of our customers, of our partners. It's what they think our brand is. It's their perception of us that defines the brand because they are the ones that authenticate or validate the brand. If they bring you business, if they refer you, if they buy from you, if they work with you, that's the validation, and that means you need to find out what it is in their minds that your brand is, and that's what you want to be known for. You want to be aware of what that is because you'll be known for it and it will bring you more and more blessings, more and more opportunities, more and more exposure and all of that. The well-known Oprah Winfrey said this about the goal of networking, and I think this helps you. I think this is a great takeaway. She says the difference between who you are, this is her definition. What is the goal of networking is to get to this place where when you show up to an event, when you show up to a place where you enter a space, it's the difference between someone at the desk that the registration desk that Sylvia referenced is the difference between someone saying, who are you and someone saying, thank you for being here. That's the goal of networking, that when you show up someone somewhere, the person, the desk, the person doing the registration doesn't say, who are you sir? Who are you, ma'am. Instead, they say, oh, thank you for being here. That's the goal of networking, whether it's a small circle now, and you can grow your circle as you grow your networking skills. The key is network every time, anywhere. Anyhow. Because as Harvey McKay says, it's important that you dig your well before you're thirsty. A lot of people wait until they're thirsty. Wait until they need something, wait until they need someone, and then they reach out. Dig your well before you're thirsty. That way you know you have created a place to cultivate, to gather, to prepare clean, pure water when you are thirsty. Otherwise, if it's when you're thirsty, you're going to dig your well, you may come up dry. That's what we talk about with networking, create and cultivate your networks before you need them. That way they're nurtured and sitting and waiting to support you when you need it. That's not the time to start to call. And go, Hey, how are you? It's Michelle calling and trying to make a connection. That's not the day that you're going to get the support. That's what we wanted to share today at Upskill, and I want to make sure, for those of you who are new to our community, I want to share with you ways that you can communicate with us. One is listening to our podcast, upskill Talks. Every Monday we share a new episode, and we would love you to click the link and subscribe on your favorite podcast. Medium Upskill Community Events is where you can go and register for our live sessions, whether they're here or in person. And we also want you to subscribe to our newsletter. Our newsletter drops every week with lots of fantastic leadership nuggets. Subscribe so that it comes directly to you. It's on LinkedIn. I wanna say thanks for taking the time on your Thursday evening to come and join us, because what we know, and this is the topic I'm gonna do a spoiler alert for the topic for our next podcast will be how to keep play, how to keep pace with skill. And we are not going to have to worry about that because every week we're coming to upskill ourselves. And that means we will keep pace with the change in environment because as you know, in the same way that money loses value in a, in a very dynamic market, leadership skills and knowledge loses value in a very dynamic business environment. And so in the same way that we have to be mindful of the inflation rate, we have to be mindful of the skill inflation rate. And so we wanna make sure that we pay attention and be always looking out for upskilling because we're all a work in progress.

Thank you for listening to this episode of UpSkill Talks. We bring you new episodes every Monday. Please take a moment to subscribe, leave a five star rating and a written review at apple podcast. Or follow us on. By Google podcast or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, don't forget to share UpSkill talks with other leaders like yourself. So they too may gain the skills and insights to produce amazing results. Please go to UpSkillCommunity.com to review show notes and learn how you can join a community of leaders from across the globe. Collaborating to lead in a more meaningful and impactful way. I'm your host, Michel Shah. And again, thank you for joining me on this episode of UpSkill Talks.