Page 122 - Roy W. Rice - CEO Material How to Be a Leader in Any Organization-McGraw-Hill (2009)

You Accept the Need to Stand Out and Be Visible • 103

more worries, more regrets, and more bruises. But underneath all of
that, you will still be the same person who is here today, and it will be
good for you to stay connected with the people who know the real you.
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I’m the president of an industry association that meets with govern-
ment ministers and department heads. Recently, one of my executive
members referred to me as “our chief schmoozer.” Humor aside,
nobody sitting at the boardroom table tried to negate the sentiment.
Had I really developed my networking behavior so much? Frankly,
I like to think of it less as “schmoozing” and more as my focus to be
seen as accessible, professional, and confident.

Anticipate discomfort. Forget that. Put your fears and apprehension
aside or at least out of the way. Look at your list of possible things to do,
and pick the scariest first; second scariest second, third scariest third, and
so on down the list.

My dad told me as a young boy to always go into a room of people,
pick out the most successful and smartest, and spend as much time
with that person as possible to find out what worked for him.

This cultivation of contacts may not seem all that important in the
crush of your daily to-do list, that is, until you need it. Then it’s too late.
If you put in effort now when you don’t necessarily need it (or don’t have
the time for), it will be in place when you do need to call on others—
then you’ll be glad to have a network, err safety net.
When you are knee deep in your career, you wonder how you can
take time away from your all-encompassing work and network. But you
must make time for it. The 20 people you started your career with in 20
years will be in 20 different companies—and if you stay connected, you
have an entrée into each of them.

One of my biggest regrets is the contacts I’ve let drop over time.
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My rule is to follow-up four times. Nothing ever happens with just
one contact.