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Capitalizing on Your Political Savvy 143

were very proud of at that particular time in their life. Eighteen of
them mentioned something about their children, while only two
gave a work-related or personal example. Now, I realize that we are
proud of our children, but I couldn’t help but detect false modesty
in the air. These women felt that bragging about their children was
somehow safer and more socially acceptable than talking about
themselves. But here was an opportunity for them to network and
to share something that might catch someone’s interest for all sorts
of reasons and lead to a great new professional relationship. It was
a missed opportunity to market themselves.
A number of years ago, I got thrown into a dinner forum where
the diners were all men. A friend drove me home and he said, “You
didn’t say anything. Were you feeling okay?” I said that I really felt
as though I couldn’t add anything of interest to the conversation—all
they talked about was sports, business, and their last golf game. My
friend then said to me, “Becky, you can talk with anybody and fit in
. . . you just need to think ahead sometimes and plan what you might
say early on.” He said, “Next time, think about what kinds of issues
you think people will be interested in—what kinds of questions would
you ask them? Think of questions that may stretch their opinions or
get them curious. Or even better yet—tell a short and memorable
story.” My friend then said, “Don’t be shy, tell them you are president
of a well-known leadership development organization. Let them know
in the first thirty seconds some of the premier clients you have and
tell about an interesting project your company just worked on.”
To my friend’s point, it is all about sharing your uniqueness and
speaking with a sense of passion and enthusiasm. Find the uniqueness
in what you are doing and link it to what they want to do. Everyone
will be tuned in and will want to learn more. Humans are curious
people and generally, if thought through, they are genuinely inter-
ested in hearing who you are and what you do. Also, I find that once
you do it the first time it gets easier every time.