Episode 26 - How to Master Networking - Authentically and Effectively

In this Women's Career Mastery Podcast episode, Laura and Christine host Christina Zini, a leadership and executive coach with global experience. Christina delves into authentic networking, how to overcome its challenges, and why it's crucial for career advancement. She emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, building genuine connections, and having a clear strategy. Christina also shares practical tips and offers a free 30-minute networking strategy session for listeners. The discussion highlights how women can navigate networking with confidence and authenticity.

Welcome to the Women's Career Mastery Podcast, the show that's dedicated to empowering women to redefine success and break through barriers. I'm your host, Christine, and my co-host, Laura, along with our amazing guests and experts. We are here to shatter the myths that has been hindering women's career fulfillment for far too long. So, if you're ready to master your career and take your life to the next level, join us in our journey together. The Women's Career Mastery podcast starts now.

In this episode with our guest, we are diving into the world of networking. A topic that often bring mixed feelings. We all recognize its importance for our professional lives. But let's face it. Sometimes it can feel a bit forced. Today, we'll explore how self-awareness can transform your approach. Making interactions more natural and meaningful. Learn how to overcome challenges and get practical, actionable tips to help you network. Tune into valuable advice and inspiration on mastering the art of networking authentically. Without further ado. I hand over to my co-host Laura.

Thanks Christine. Hello listeners. It's great to be back for another episode of the Women's Career Mastery Podcast. Our guest is Christina Zini. Christina is a leadership and executive coach with global experience in developing people, driving strategic change and transforming HR for many Fortune 500 companies.

She's truly a global citizen having visited 50 plus countries and lived in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. She's an ICF credentialed coach, as well as an accomplished writer, public speaker, and facilitator. She founded a professional women's network. She is very passionate about inspiring and empowering women to pursue their ambitions, accelerate their careers and elevate their leadership.

She's an amazing professional and person. We share the same passion for empowering women in their careers. And we're so excited to have you on the podcast. Christina, do you want to share a few words on why you wanted to join us?

Thank you for that introduction, Christine and Laura. I'm so excited to be here as part of your Women's Career Mastery podcast and community.

My desire to take part in your podcast really stems from just listening to your podcast, to the exciting topics and speakers that you've included to date, knowing that we have a very similar passion for developing women, helping women to advance their careers and grow as leaders. So, I just really felt a strong synergy with both of you, your podcasts, and of course the global community around the world.

All right. And Christina, I know you come here to speak about something that you're very passionate about -- authentic networking. I guess we can start by what is networking for you?

Yeah, great question, Christine. So, I'd like to give you my take on what authentic networking means by first breaking it down into what does authentic mean and what does networking mean, right?

So, you know, authentic is really about our ability to share our deepest, most authentic, parts of ourselves with others, and it begins with that self-awareness, knowing who we are and what we believe, and it's through that self-awareness that we can actively work on accepting our unique selves and then feel comfortable really letting others experience who we really are.

And so, when we show up authentically, we're able to form, deeper, more meaningful connections. And I always like to say that authenticity breeds authenticity. So that's the authentic component. Now, when it comes to professional networking, we think about professional networking as really establishing, building and nurturing relationships with the people we work with or people within our industry to both advance our careers and realize our aspirations.

Now, when we put the two together, I like to think of this as building relationships. Genuine connections that are mutually beneficial to help both parties for all parties involved co create success. And so, what does that actually mean? Well, the emphasis here is on relationship building, right? How do we build genuine connections so we can help each other? Find new jobs, transition to new roles or assignments, land a new client achieve a promotion and so much more.

For me, networking has been an absolute crucial part to my own success over 25 years in management consulting and HR and then as an entrepreneur and leadership, and executive coach. So, I can't say enough great things about how networking is a powerful tool for career advancement and how it's even more powerful when we show up authentically.

The explanation and the definitions and your view on it are really clear. Like, I really understand what you're saying, but I'm still hesitant. I still hold myself back from networking is what I would hear. Like, how do I do all of that? And not be overwhelmed or not be you know, in fear of networking or not something along that line.

Did you want to jump in, Christine? Yeah, I also want to add to that, Christine I think this is something we would like to discuss as well because the burden of networking, the word networking, it's like I'm going to talk to someone, and I have a different motive behind it. It's not just about talk.

It's like I want something, or I, there's something behind it. And it feels rather, you know, like it's hard to be authentic if having something that we hide a different motive in a way of speaking with someone else. So yeah, if you like to kind of bring about the explanations of how we can overcome what Laura and, and I said about the negative connotation behind the word network or the activity of networking.

Yeah. What you two are bringing up is what so many women commonly experience. With networking. I have a lot of my clients as well as, you know, women I meet with in various settings who say to me, Christina networking just feels so icky, like they're just something a little bit almost. Dirty feeling about it.

And so, I often think about, well, why is it so hard? Why does networking feel so hard? And why do we, especially as women, have so many complicated feelings about networking? And so, you know, what I hear, besides what you two have already shared, is that a lot of women, in particular, don't really like the transactional nature of networking, right?

It just, it feels like you're going in with an ask. And so, I always like to talk about, you know, how to how do we reframe from that? And we'll be talking a little bit more about that as our conversation continues. And I share some, some tips, tricks and wisdom about authentic networking. Oftentimes, you know, women tell me that it feels fake, right?

They feel very superficial and like they have to go in and mask up. And that does not feel very authentic. And that requires a lot of extra energy as well to mask up and kind of play a persona, right, and engage in something that just feels like a lot of handshaking or, you know, pats on the back type of thing.

A lot of my clients also tell me they're simply unsure what to say or do, like they go into networking situations, whether it's an event or an informal meeting at their company, or if it's just a, you know, one on one informational meeting with a leader that they've been wanting to, to connect with.

They're just, unsure of themselves, not sure what to say or what to do. And so afraid that they're just going to make a mistake, right. And end up looking like a fool. They've also , shared with me that they don't feel like they have anything to offer. And so, this is where I see oftentimes women's imposter syndrome kicking in.

And that imposter syndrome is often fueled by these voices that tell us that. You know, we're a fraud or that we don't belong that even though we might have fantastic credentials and so many accomplishments under our belt, you know, we just simply less than and so that often comes up that those imposter syndromes.

Feelings kick in and that, mentality of like, well, I don't know what to say. And I don't have anything to offer in this situation. I think another very practical reason why women feel uncomfortable with networking is around the fact that it takes extra time and energy. And sometimes it takes time outside of normal working hours.

Right. And so, I like to bring that up because, so many times women will say to me that they're challenged by networking. They don't really want to stay in the evenings or do something on the weekends, or when they have spare time, they're focused on other things. Or that again, it just requires so much energy for them.

And so how do we become, you know, cognizant of that and make networking really Work for us. And then lastly, another, common challenge is for those of us who are introverts and those of us who experience social anxiety. And these are, you know, it's all very real, right? And so, I like to especially work with my introverted clients to think about how do you network in a way that still honors your natural introversion?

That is cognizant of your energy and how much you're able to give, but still again doing so in a way that's authentic, that's intentional, that helps you build towards your career goals and the results that you're looking to create for yourself. Like I said, even though there's a lot of different challenges associated with networking and these sort of kind of icky feelings that go along with it, it is still very instrumental to our career advancement and realizing our aspirations.

And so, I like to bring all that out on the table. Just let's hang out all the dirty laundry, right? And talk about it and then figure out the ways in which we can reframe, or we can come up um, with ways in which. To work around this and again, you know, approach networking with a fresh perspective that feels again, more genuine and it's focused on creating those mutually beneficial connections that we're really all longing to make at the end of the day.

So, all those things you mentioned are really good to call out to bring the awareness, right? Like just having an awareness that those are maybe some things that are blocking you to do in the networking. So, thank you for sharing that.

Yeah. And now if you would like to share what would be your approach, what are the listeners can do to overcome this or at least reframe and be able to do networking authentically.

Yeah, absolutely. So, I'm going to be sharing lots of different tips and some very practical ways to approach networking.

So, if you're a listener who's driving in the car. You might want to come back to this podcast with a pen and some paper at some point. Or if you're commuting now's a great time to take some notes either on your phone or grab that pen and paper. And at the end, I'll share a little bit more details about how you can also follow up and read some of the articles that I've written on the same subject.

I want you to just imagine for a moment that you are pouring the foundation for your own house of networking. This is your house, but your foundation, it's going to consist of. three different layers, right? The first layer, this is the deepest layer is about knowing yourself. That is that deep self-awareness, especially of your own mindset.

Now you'll find if you've been around a sort of self-development, professional development, leadership development space for a long time, everything we come to come comes back to that basis, right? Of really, truly knowing ourselves. So that is. The first level of our foundation building this house of networking.

The second level that we're going to build upon today is about skills. And confidence, right? And those are just more of the practical ways in which we can hone our networking skills and build our confidence. And then the third layer of our foundation is our strategize plan and take action layer, right?

So that's kind of like the icing on the cake, right? Once we've built up the foundation and then we've got this third layer, it's going to help us bring it all together and start to take action. Of course, practice, practice, practice. So, I'll transition into focusing on, you know, that first, deepest layer of this foundation, which is about knowing ourselves the value of self-awareness and how our self-perceptions actually influence our ability to network confidently.

So, what does it mean to know ourselves? Well, you're probably aware of your personality type or your strengths. There are so many different ways in which we can just assess sort of who we are today, what makes us tech, right? There's a lot of popular psychometric tools out there and great personality assessments.

I'm familiar, for example, with, you know, CliftonStrengths or Enneagram Myers Briggs, DISC. These are all tools that people use to help better know themselves. Other ways in which we can get to know both our strengths as well as our personality areas for development and blind spots are through, you know, 360 reviews that we do within, you know, our own organization, our own team, or whatever.

Performance assessments, project evaluations, getting feedback from the people around us. All of this is just great information that helps us, you know, become more self-aware and be more cognizant of just who we are, what makes us tick, you know, where our strengths are, what we're naturally passionate about and drawn to, as well as sort of those areas for development, blind spots, just things to watch out for.

Right. So, when I also think about, you know, Knowing ourselves really well. I, I really love the positive intelligence concepts around saboteurs. Now I'm not going to go into great detail about what positive intelligence is or really even what saboteurs are, except to just explain it as the saboteurs are like those inner critics that, really can get in our way of us showing up authentically and being our best selves, right?

This is often the ways in which we self-sabotage. And we might think of self-sabotage as negative self-talk, those limiting beliefs, dysfunctional behavior, you know, basically those things that are just getting in our way. And so much of that is really what shows up when it comes to networking.

And so, I just want to share a few examples of how, again, those saboteurs and that negative self-talk, those limiting beliefs and so forth can influence. networking. One, and probably the most common one, is that we just avoid networking at all costs, right? We're like, I'm just going to put my head down and do my job, and I'm going to avoid any of those sticky situations, whether it's an external event, or it's an internal networking event, a team, building group, or if it's a conversation with a higher up leader, I'm just going to stay away from all of that, and just, Stay in my lane.

Do what I do well, right? So that's a big one. That avoidance. Another common one is that when we do put ourselves in these situations, we feel like we have to be perfect. Like we've got to have it all together. We've got to present like this perfect face. We've got to be in control of the situation that we're in.

We have to like win everybody over, right? So that is coming into those situations again, from a place of, you know, just but almost overachieving, right, or trying to please everyone or trying to control the situation, we put tremendous pressure on ourselves to be absolutely perfect, and of course we know none of us are.

Another, for example, mindset that might interfere with one's ability to network is just pure skepticism about the value or the benefit. Of networking, undervaluing networking and building relationships that can come up often with people who are a lot more comfortable with data or processes or systems and try to avoid, like the messiness of human dynamics, right?

So, there can be a component of just really not seeing much value in it and therefore not. You know, wanting to engage in those kinds of activities, , are being distrustful of other people who do right. And that kind of taps into that energy we were talking about at the very start, which is it can feel fake or superficial.

And sometimes we feel distrustful of people who are networking, like, are they showing up as their real selves? Like, you know, what did they want from me? And so forth. So again, like all that kind of plays into the ways in which, we self-sabotage. The last one I'd like to make again kind of links back to that imposter syndrome, which is, really telling ourselves like, well, no one really wants to hear from me or no one's going to care if I'm there.

You know, I'm not, what, who am I, it's not really going to make a difference. Right. And that's, Again, undervaluing yourself and the value that you can bring into these networking conversations and interactions with people around your people in your industry. So, I just want to stop there and check in with you, Laura and Christine, and just see what's coming up for you as we talk about the importance of self-awareness as kind of the foundation for authentic networking and the ways in which we can self-sabotage.

Yeah, I resonate with all that prevent us to do it, and I'm curious it seems like it's not just mindset or understanding what prevent us, but is there any way of shifting that? Even though we still feel that sometimes because I like for me, I'm, I'm introvert. I probably can talk in front of camera, but like talking with real people, it's pretty, pretty scary, especially for people that I don't really know.

So even every time I show up, I always feel something in my body that doesn't feel comfortable being around others and have to speak with them. So how can we. understand that of course, like hold that feeling gently and keep moving forward to network because that's the way we grow to connect.

Yeah, that absolutely is Christine. And that's really a wonderful segue into, the second step of being able to build, your skills and confidence. These are techniques that will help us network more authentically and more confidently, and so the first step is obviously being able to just identify these self-sabotaging like negative thought patterns, and that's again, you know, where that self-awareness comes in and being able to say, aha, I'm doing it. These are the stories that I'm telling myself about.

Networking or this particular situation or even this person that I know is important. I network with for whatever reason. I also really recommend that after becoming aware, we take steps to just be aware recenter ourselves and move from the head space into the heart space.

So, I'm going to make a plug for Christine's wonderful book, The Heart Space, which I recently read. And there's just so much beautiful wisdom, and great questions in there that I think would really benefit anyone who wants to further explore just the ways in which, you know, our negative thinking patterns are limiting beliefs are getting in our way and then being able to reconnect with that heart space.

And that, like I said, is a wonderful tool to just recenter ourselves and come back to really knowing who we are and what is true to us. And then I also I'm a big believer in just visualizations and so I always like to Encourage people who are approaching networking to really visualize what they want to create in that moment to take a few breaths, before they're going into a networking conversation or an event to just really center themselves.

And then where they're actually in the moment to stay focused on the person or the people who are around them. Practice that active listening kind of skills. Just stay curious and open. And that can be hard, right? With tendency to have a lot of chatter going on in our heads. But I like to encourage people to really stay physically connected to their feet and to the ground, to feel that grounding effect, to use their breath work, to help them stay centered. And also, just to remember. That everybody around them is likely feeling the same way, even though some people might have come across more confidently, they're probably experiencing a lot of the same anxiety or just achiness of the situation they're in and not knowing what to say and feeling like they've got to show up in a certain way.

So, bring in some lightness and humor and just realize, Hey, We're all in the same boat together. We're all likely going through the same human experience. So, I just thought I'd check in with you there to see what are some ways in which that you two have approached networking in a way that's, you know, given you a chance to show up more authentically or more intentionally and perhaps, still honoring like your introversion, for example.

So how I approach it. I have to use a lot of intent. Like why, why am I going to network? And where I am in my career right now, there's multiple reasons why I network. I might be networking to find out what are the latest trends in my field or my industry.

I might be networking for Women's Career Mastery in finding guests for the podcast. I might be networking to find, some groups that I could join to satisfy my hobbies that I like to do. So., I feel like I have to put that hat on, like I'm really like, here's why I'm going to network and then I can then connect to my authentic self, right?

So, if it is Women's Career Mastery, it's like, why am I doing this? I connect with back with my purpose. And why would I be stepping into the arena here to network with all these people? I have a reason for it. It makes it a little easier for me to do it, if that makes sense. I want to add what Laura said.

I think, yeah, it's very important that too, to know why, why you, decide to choose to go to this event or to meet this person. So, I guess the same thing for me , I don't really like networking for the sake of networking. But what I always do is like when I decided to go because I know there's something interesting there, I always bring curiosity and playfulness, like adventure, like you never know who you're going to meet, or you never know what you're going to talk. And also have less expectation that you're going to get something but bring that playfulness of challenging myself. Okay. I know I feel uncomfortable to, to speak or to approach people, but let's, let's see how it goes.

I'm curious. And who knows what can happen. So, I always put myself in that state because otherwise it's too overwhelming to be with strangers after COVID, you know, after staying at home for three years and not going anywhere. So, yeah, that's, the hat that I need to, or the state of mind that I need to put myself into.

Well, thank you both for sharing. I've been working with a client very recently on networking, and she is looking to make a change into a different industry. So, she is networking within the industry that she wants to move into that in of itself is challenging and feels daunting and so forth.

So, we've been working through, what are the fears that are coming up for her? How does she talk about herself and position? And I love what you both said about connecting back to your purpose, back to your why. And also, the mindset that you described, Christine, of just going into those conversations really.

Expecting any outcome, right? So, it's like detaching from the outcome and just showing up again as your real self. really focus more on the connection and not on the result. And so that's what I've been working on with my client. And she comes back to me and was telling me like how much fun she's having and how joyful it is and how she's meeting all these great new people.

And so, I just want to underline like, that that's networking, right, is going out and building relationships and these are mutually beneficial relationships. So, while her sort of ask might be, I'm looking for a job in this new industry, the reality is she has so much to offer as well too. And I always like to remind women that they have so much to offer, even if they're in a position where.

They're the ones looking for a job or they're the ones asking for the promotion or they're looking to land the client. They're in a position to give as well. Right. And I always believe in like this sort of karmic effect of like, it all comes back to where someone might help you out. In one instance, later down the road, you'll be able.

To pay it forward and do the same, when you take that energy and channel it into networking, I feel like it really just shifts the whole experience and takes away some of the, the achiness or the pressures associated brings in some of the lightness and fun. What's interesting is for women, like we're good at nurturing, right?

This should be easy for us. So, the approach that we're talking about and the, the tips that you're giving us are really helpful. Cause I think we, we know it, but we don't remember it, but we are really good at building relationships inside and outside work. And I also want to add something because I think this is kind of, if you want to make network as a game.

Like, it's kind of a cool game because you can pat yourself on the back. Like, hey, I'm, I'm exploring outside of my comfort zone. Just one meeting at a time. You know, one person I talk, one stranger I talk, it's like, let's pat myself in the back. Because it's, It's really something. And I think it's practicing our muscles to get out there, to really, grow through just as simple as talking to strangers.

Yeah. Now Christina, you mentioned about the last one, which is strategize, planning, and take actions. And I have a question for you. 'cause sometimes it's really hard, it's so overwhelming. Where would I go? Like, which networking event that will be helpful for me or like, useful instead of A or B or C.

Do you have any thoughts on building strategy or planning or taking action?

Yes, I have plenty of thoughts on that subject. I'm going to double back for just a moment because there were a few other tips that I wanted to share that will help us build those networking skills. So, I had talked a little bit more about just being able to identify the saboteurs to be able to recenter ourselves, change the narrative and so forth.

When it comes to actually like, preparing for networking situations and how we show up, I would love to just share a couple more very concrete tips that I think your listeners will find very beneficial. Of course, as we, build our confidence and networking, it does take practice but there's some preparation that is involved before we even go into those situations.

And so, I'm a big believer in women crafting their own elevator pitch. And what an elevator pitches are sort of a 30 to 60 seconds speech that captures their capabilities, their accomplishments, and their goals. Now this is not a speech that you have to feel like the way You need to deliver verbatim like a robot would in every situation, but it's really creating that elevator pitch for yourself, so you know your key messaging and that when someone asks you, who are you?

What do you do? What are you looking for? What brought you to this event, right? That you're able to articulate yourself. Clearly, succinctly in a way that comes across and makes a very powerful positive first impression. So, I always like to start with the elevator pitch and helping women to really craft that in a way that again is reflective of who they are and their beliefs.

Their capabilities, their accomplishments, and how they want to present themselves and make that strong first impression. When women are in those networking situations, I think the first component to keep in mind is just go in with the intention of building rapport, again, this is not focused on the results, but like, how do we build rapport with people?

Well, ahead of time, we can prep and reflect about. How we want to approach either a particular person or group of people or the situation that we're in when we're together, we can mirror body language. We can mirror voice and word choice. That's a way of creating rapport. People don't realize you're doing it, but when you do that, immediately like creates a space where they feel like, oh, this person gets me.

She understands me, right? You're picking up on those nonverbal kinds of cues, ask questions, you know, listen actively. So oftentimes people are stuck on like, I don't know what to say. What do I, what do I say? What do I do? Well, ask some great questions. Have a few of those powerful questions up your sleeve, because generally speaking, when you get somebody talking like, and you continue to ask some powerful questions, that gives you information and then you'll find sort of little hooks and that's what I call finding that common ground in which you can build that rapport.

You can relate to one another, and you can of course empathize with the people or persons that you're speaking with. So, another skill that I like to encourage women to do is to just stay visible. So, this is not explicitly related to networking. It's really about our presence, and how we make ourselves known by speaking up in meetings, volunteering for events.

Be they external or internal events, sharing knowledge generously, again, you can do that internally from many companies as just part of like their knowledge management system is to share internally, but go ahead and share externally too. And I love to use LinkedIn and prefer professional networking.

There might be other platforms out there that women in different parts of the world prefer to use. I always encourage people to use LinkedIn or similar platforms, even when they're not looking for a job. Why? It just helps to build your profile and keep you out there. Make a name for yourself as a thought leader for the fields you're in.

That's about sharing generously. Again, keeping your profile visible, active, maintaining that sort of leadership presence form lasting relationships. So, this is another tip. That will help you build those networking skills and increase your confidence as you practice. And you're doing this more often.

You're going to obviously come in contact with a lot of different people. And you'll want to, of course, exchange contact details, follow up with them, find ways to either add them into your LinkedIn or another platform or connect with them stay in touch.

So oftentimes people will say to me, well, I don't know how to follow up. I don't know what to say, what to do. And what it works for me personally is if I see an article come through that reminds me of someone, I just shoot the message and say, hey, saw this, thought you might enjoy it, right? Those are just simple ways in which you can maintain your connections or periodically reach out.

And I'm also not a believer in that. Oh, well, I haven't talked to this person for five, 10 years, so I can't really message them anymore. Sure, you can. They'll probably love to hear from you. So those are just some ways in which, you can build those networking skills in different ways, both in person in the setting that you're in, as well as maintaining Elevating your visibility, forming those long lasting relationships, and then from there, here's where the rubber meets the road, as they say, in the third step of this foundation, I described it as that icing on the cake, right?

This is where we create our networking strategy and plan, and we really start to take action. So, the big component. of this networking strategy and plan is clarifying your own career goals, so this is not only pondering the question of like, who am I, but also asking yourself, and what do I want to create in my professional life?

Where am I headed? So be crystal clear about what your career goals are, because from there, you can then inform your networking objectives. So, because I know these are my career goals, I'm going to establish networking objectives that get me to those career goals. Then you can come up with some very tangible actions and desired outcomes, including, obviously identifying the people that you want to involve.

I call them supporting actors. You might call them stakeholders. But these are just people that can support you. They might be colleagues. They might be people who are more senior to you. They might be people in a different industry. You know, they might be friends or family members who have, a connection that you think might be beneficial for you as you think about advancing your career.

And remember, you know, again, you're doing so in a way that's about yourself. Mutually beneficial, genuine connections, right? It's not about transactional. Well, it will feel somewhat self-centered in the sense that you're focusing on your career goals and your networking objectives. As you're interacting, you're always looking for ways in which you can support and help the other person as well.

You want to make sure that you add on some expected completion dates or timeline to help yourself stay accountable and track your progress. Celebrate. Those wins when something goes well, reflect on, post conversation post event, what went well, what could I have done even better if like, what was I noticing about myself or the other person, that I can, take with me as I move forward, identify next steps.

So, I believe that a networking strategy and plan is really like a living document, but if there's a specific goal in mind, like either you're, going for a promotion you're trying to, reach out and land a new client. You're looking for a different role internally or externally. This is when a networking strategy and plan is really crucial and can be a tool that, you know, catapults you in the direction that you want to go.

So, I'm just going to stop there and see what's coming up for both of you. As I shared. Again, more skills to help you network with more authenticity and confidence, and then also how to network with greater intentionality by putting together a strategy and plan. Yeah. I'm hearing that this is definitely a tool you want to learn to use and to, and to leverage and to tailor it for you, like make it work for you in a way that aligns to where you're trying to go or where you're trying to get to.

And to Christine's point, have fun with it, right? It doesn't have to be overwhelming, or we don't have to have freak out moments when we're going into the networking event, just to approach it, that this is a tool that you can use and you can certainly personalize it for you, how you want it to show up, at least that's what I'm hearing.

Yeah. And thank you, Christina. There's Pack with tips and very good strategies, very useful and practical. And I hope that's. We all can apply it. Listeners can apply it. And we have a question for you. Where can people find you or is there anything you can offer for our listeners?

Yes. Well, I really love when people reach out to me on LinkedIn. You'll find me as Christina with a C H last name is Zini, Z I N I. There's only one of me in the world. So, Find me on LinkedIn. I'm also on Instagram and Facebook by the same name and I have a website christinazini. com. You'll find if you read through my blog actually blogged just recently in April of 2024 on the subject of networking and more or less, follows the same outline that I shared with you on the podcast today about knowing yourself, building your skills and confidence, developing that strategy and plan.

So that's another resource that you can use if you'd like to know more about authentic networking. And last but not least, I have a really fantastic offer for your listeners. Two offers, actually. One is which I'd love to hear from your listeners and offer a free 30-minute networking strategy session with me.

And then as part of that session, once we have a conversation about, again, your career goals, your networking objectives. I'll share with you my template for creating your own networking plan, and that will really help you gain some traction in support of your own career goals and realize your ambitions.

And then second to that, I have a fantastic authentic networking workshop that is for corporates or organizations that are looking to really help. Their employees learn more about how to use authentic networking for career advancement purposes. And so, I cover all the subjects we've discussed in this podcast today, plus more in this two-hour workshop, which can be delivered either in person or virtually.

It's very interactive. It's very full of great information and insights, tools, and tips that can help your employees learn how to network in a way that, again, comes from a place of authenticity. And it's done so with greater intentionality than, of course. Leads to fantastic results , amazing offers to our listeners definitely connect with Christina we will have all of her links to her profiles on all the social sites, as well as anything else she can point us to in the show notes for you to make it easy to connect with her.

So, Christina, are you ready for our lightning round of questions? I am. Excellent. There are four questions. We like to offer that the responses to be one to three words, but it never happens, but we strive for that. But it's a good way to get to know you a little bit more. So, tell us first question, where do you go for inspiration?

Nature. What is one habit you adopted that has greatly improved your career? Networking, but seriously, like shameless plug, I am a self-proclaimed networking queen, and it has been amazing for my career. I can really attribute almost all of my success to, building and maintaining a very healthy network.

Awesome. What is one thing that keeps you moving forward each day? My kids. Yeah, I'm a mom to three sons and I love, viewing the world through their eyes. I'm trying to bottle up their energy and drink it myself. And just experiencing everything firsthand, like through their childlike innocence and curiosity.

Oh, that's beautiful. And what is the most valuable piece of advice you ever received?

To be myself.

Again, very, you can see that authentically coming through. I know our listeners can't see you a weekend, but that was such an authentic moment. So, thank you for sharing that. Thank you both for having me on your podcast. It's been an absolute pleasure and an honor. I'm thrilled to be here. And I'd love to hear from some of your listeners either with feedback or questions about, authentic networking, or even how to book that free 30-minute networking strategy session with me.

I might take you up on that too. Thank you. Thank you for being here and sharing your wisdom, knowledge and experience to our listeners. Thanks again. Bye for now.

Thank you for joining us. On this episode of Women's Career Mastery, to ensure you don't miss any future episodes, please subscribe to our podcast on your preferred podcast platform. If you found this episode enjoyable, please leave us a review or give us a thumbs up. Your support helps us reach a wider audience who could benefit from our content.

Also, if you want to learn more about us and our guests, please make sure to check out the show notes for this episode. Thank you again for listening, and we look forward to connecting with you on the next episode of Women's Career Mastery.