+*LEADERSHIP WEEK, DAY 4: Networking, Round 2*+

*Bonus Email from Keith Ferrazzi in Honor of Tonight's Keynote Event with Cindy Cornell*
 
 
Dear 85 Broads @ Columbia,
 
I understand that you want to hear from me about networking – and I’m happy to share my ideas with you.  Thanks for asking!
 
It’s much easier to get access and expand your network than most people think.  It just takes a bit of intention and a healthy dose of confidence – call it audacity. Even more important, you have to learn that generosity, not greed, is the true currency of networking. When trying to build relationships, take time to figure out affinities they have, what interests you might share, and how you might help them. As members of both 85 Broads and the Columbia University family, you’ll find both of those networks to be powerful as you progress in your career – if you learn how to leverage them.
 
But as rising young professionals, the most important thing I can tell you – something it took me years to learn – is that the best measure of your network isn’t how many contacts you have, or how important they are. It’s whether you can answer a decisive “yes” to this question: Are there people in my professional network who truly have my back? Behind every great leader, at the base of every great tale of success, you will find an indispensable inner circle of trusted advisors, mentors and colleagues – the people who have their back. These are the people I call Lifelines, and they are, quite literally, why some people succeed far more than others. (My second book, Who’s Got Your Back, is all about how to find, cultivate, and leverage these relationships for mutual success.)
 
There’s a good chance that you’ve already experienced the power and potential of lifeline relationships at some point in your life.  Think back to that good friend or family member who dropped everything to be there for you at a critical juncture in your life and didn’t let you fail.  Picture that person, a coach perhaps, who took a risk for you and whose influence still touches you today.  As members of 85 Broads, you already have had a taste of committed mutual support.
 
Thursday evening, you’ll have a chance to meet Cindy Cornell, 85 Broads member and one of our Relationship Masters who has been working with her own Lifeline Group for almost a year.  Like others who have launched lifeline groups, she has made some big changes to her life and business and she attributes much of that success to the team of people around her who help her strategize, hold her accountable, and cheer her on.  You’re going to love getting to know her.
 
Too many people make the mistake of thinking serendipity, chemistry, or some kind of magic is required to bring these deep, trusting relationships into your life.  Here’s what I know from experience, in my own life and through years of working with corporate executives and their teams: You can usher lifeline relationships into your life, starting today.  It may require some new mindsets, behaviors and strategies, but at the most basic level, all it requires is that you make a choice – to stop going it alone and let others in.
 
Your admirable academic accomplishments have largely been a solitary endeavor.  Your success in the next stage of your lives, as you graduate and move into the work force, will involve other people – there’s no escaping it.  Surround yourself with people you respect and who respect you; who you trust implicitly and who trust you; who let their guard down with you and with whom you’re comfortable also being authentic; who make and keep promises and hold you to do the same – these are people who will not let you fail.  Choose success by intentionally surrounding yourself with lifelines, people committed to mutual support.  After all, business is human.
 
I so enjoyed this opportunity to share some of my ideas with all of you.  If you’d like to keep the conversation going, please join me on Twitter – @keithferrazzi – or on my blog at www.keithferrazzi.com, where you can also learn more about the online Relationship Masters Academy.  Hope to see you there!
 
Warmest,
 
Keith
 
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Just joining us? View the rest of Leadership Week articles here: https://www.85broads.com/public/blogs/jessica-l-stevenson/articles

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85 Broads @ Columbia University
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