Laura Schwartz speaks about the Power of Networking
This week I attended another fabulous ISES Orlando meeting! Our “Re-Introduce Yourself” meeting was held at the Hyatt Regency and boasted an attendance of over 100 ISES members and guests. Everyone was buzzing about Laura Schwartz of White House Strategies and looking forward to hearing her speak; she had tailored a presentation specifically for our group about the power of networking and how to network more effectively.
Laura has a dynamic personality and her boundless enthusiasm is contagious! She did an outstanding job of communicating great concepts and techniques for “building bridges” and optimizing your networking resources. Her presentation sparked many ideas for me, and I plan to implement some of her suggestions in the coming months.
One thing she said really stuck with me. She said, “Be the B“… At first my eyebrows raised (yes, she had my attention with that one!) and then she explained that it’s great to be in the position to connect an “A” and a “C” – in other words, be the person who connects others. Being the “B” essentially makes you the bridge, and helping others is a way of leading by example. This resonated with me because I often find myself in this exact position and it was nice to be reminded that even when you’re not directly benefiting from a situation, your role is important – sometimes key!
