Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: S1E95 An Interview with Paul Thornton and Michael A Forman, Public Speaker

Transcript

Networking Unleashed: S1E95 An Interview with Paul Thornton and Michael A Forman, Public Speaker · Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections

0:15
Second, welcome to Networking Unleashed, Building
0:19
Profitable Connections, the show where we uncover
0:22
how powerful relationships drive powerful results.
0:27
I'm your host, Michael Foreman, and today we're
0:30
diving into the intersection of leadership and
0:33
networking. Two forces, one combined, can transform
0:37
careers and organizations. My guest is an expert
0:42
in leadership styles, leading change, and developing
0:46
the skills that separate good leaders from great
0:50
ones. We'll explore how leadership style shapes
0:54
the way you connect, how to use your network
0:56
to navigate change, and why the best leaders
0:59
are also the best relationship builders. If you've
1:04
ever wanted to expand your influence, guide people
1:07
through transition, and build a network that
1:10
works as hard as you do, this conversation is
1:13
for you. I'd like to introduce to all of my listeners,
1:17
Paul Thornton, and he is the expert that I am
1:21
talking about. Paul, how are you? Welcome to
1:24
the podcast, and give us a little bit about your
1:26
background. Okay, thank you, Michael, first of
1:29
all, for having me on. I have worked roughly
1:32
20 years in a large corporation. I worked in
1:37
a variety of settings. I was on the leadership
1:40
team in several profit centers within this company.
1:44
So I got a firsthand look at the way leaders
1:47
operated and made change happen and built teams
1:52
and managed performance and things like that.
1:56
And I also have about 20 years working as a professor
2:00
at a university or college teaching management
2:04
and leadership. So I have a lot of the theories
2:08
of leadership and also some actual practice being
2:11
a leader. I've had people reporting to me. I
2:15
also coached a hockey team for four years. That
2:19
gave me some real life leadership experience.
2:23
And also, I always say being a parent or grandparent
2:27
is also a leadership role. And so that's another
2:31
angle to look at it. You're absolutely right.
2:35
Being a grandfather myself, I understand that
2:37
wholeheartedly. And that, of course, adds to
2:41
your practicality of your leadership roles, because
2:44
your leadership roles with your grandchildren
2:46
and corporate may be slightly different, but
2:50
you have to attack it the same way. OK, so how
2:54
does a leader's style influence the way they
2:58
build and sustain professional relationships?
3:02
I think leaders are always looking at two things,
3:05
the task or the work that needs to get done and
3:09
the relationships that they need to build to
3:12
make it happen. So those two things are really
3:16
important. But I think leaders. build strong,
3:21
positive, engaging relationships with people
3:25
to start with. They get a chance to understand
3:29
the person, the goals, their ambitions, their
3:33
wants and needs, and then they manage them or
3:38
lead them in a way that connects to what they
3:42
want to achieve as well as what the company wants
3:45
to achieve. So they try to weave those things
3:48
together and make it happen. I think leaders,
3:51
too, they're always building their network so
3:56
when they have needs and problems that arise
4:00
down the road, they have a group of people they
4:04
can contact and say, I got this problem with
4:07
a... demotivated person, what would you advise
4:11
or what would you do in this situation? So their
4:14
network helps them provide advice and guidance
4:18
and ideas. You might not always agree with someone
4:22
in your network, but you can get some ideas from
4:25
them about, who knows, strategic planning, building
4:29
teams, merging with another company. It depends
4:32
on the situation, obviously. Yeah, that's true.
4:36
You don't want yes men around you. You want somebody
4:41
that can give you actual information and you
4:44
decide, you have to always go with your gut.
4:47
But if you get, oh, you know what? I didn't think
4:50
about that. Or maybe I should attack it like
4:52
this because I found that, or the people that
4:56
I coach, the leaders are really training other
5:00
leaders and they have to teach them to think
5:03
like that because if they can't think on their
5:05
own, then they're really not worth their salt.
5:08
So that's what I think. Okay. So in times of
5:12
change, what role does networking play in helping
5:16
leaders guide their teams and organizations effectively?
5:21
I think the first thing in leading change is
5:24
you have to diagnose the current situation. What's
5:28
happening? What's working well? What are the
5:31
biggest problems? What do the numbers tell you
5:35
about what's going on? And I think having a network
5:39
or group of people that you go to and get their
5:43
advice and their opinions, it helps you get a
5:47
complete, full picture of what's happening. And
5:51
you're right. Some people surround themselves,
5:53
some leaders surround themselves with yes people.
5:55
And that doesn't help them get a full, complete
5:59
picture of really what's going on. So I think
6:03
it starts there. And sometimes. Some leaders
6:07
I find go to the same one or two people all the
6:10
time to get their input. Sometimes you got to
6:13
think about, I need to change it up a bit. I
6:16
need to make sure I'm going to the right people.
6:19
That could mean the right customers, the right
6:22
suppliers, the right employees. Each situation
6:26
is unique, but you got to figure out who can
6:30
give me, who can help me understand the current
6:34
situation. before I even begin the change process.
6:39
The next step, I think, in the change process
6:41
is what idea or what changes are you going to
6:45
pursue? I find leaders always have a laundry
6:48
list of things they'd like to do, and some of
6:52
them try to do way too much. They're doing 18
6:54
different things at once, and it gets confusing,
6:58
and people don't know what the priorities are,
7:01
and it's just too much. What are the one or two
7:05
things I'm going to focus in on and pursue? And
7:09
again, getting advice from your network can help.
7:13
You might not always, you the leader, might not
7:16
always have the clear, precise answer of what
7:22
direction or what idea or what proposal you should
7:25
be pursuing. So getting a little other points
7:28
of view can be helpful. Third point, I think,
7:31
is presenting your message to the right people.
7:34
Just like the investor, just like the entrepreneurs
7:38
on Shark Tank, they're presenting their idea
7:41
to the sharks to get them to invest. The leader
7:45
has to present his idea or her idea to the right
7:49
people to get them to buy in. So they got to
7:53
be able to explain it really clearly and succinctly.
7:57
And they have to be able to convince the people
8:00
that this idea is a winner. It's going to help
8:03
me. It's going to improve the team or the organization
8:07
or whatever. So that's important. And then the
8:11
fourth step is plan and implement. Any type of
8:14
change, any type of new thing you're doing, you've
8:18
got to have a plan. And the plan's got to lay
8:20
out all the steps and actions that will be taken
8:24
to... implement what it is you're going to do.
8:27
So that's a quick synopsis. But the theme, I
8:31
think, that runs through all of those is involving
8:35
others, meaning involving your network, getting
8:38
feedback from them at each step in the process
8:43
to help them or their information will help you
8:48
get clearer in your thinking. and the steps that
8:52
you're going to take to achieve your goals. Absolutely.
8:58
And what would you say to, if you're a C -suite
9:02
executive, let's say, and one of your managers
9:05
has a problem with the company or whatever, what
9:08
would you say to them on how they should react
9:13
to their manager or employee with that? Now,
9:18
before you answer, my... My answer was always,
9:22
if you have a problem, bring me a solution. Bring
9:26
me a solution with the problem and we'll discuss
9:29
it. But if you don't have a solution, if you're
9:31
just here to complain, I don't want to hear it.
9:33
So how do you feel about that? I was also taught
9:37
that by my manager who said the same thing. Don't
9:41
just bring me problems. And that's true, I think,
9:44
a lot of the time. But I think sometimes you
9:48
legitimately don't. know what the solution or
9:52
possible solutions might be. And you need someone
9:56
to go to who's a little bit more seasoned and
10:00
more experienced, and maybe they've had a similar
10:03
problem. Now you can come in, hopefully you can
10:06
come in with at least some ideas you've thought
10:09
about, but you can't quite nail it down in terms
10:13
of what would be the best approach or solution
10:18
to pursue. So that's the way I would advise it.
10:22
Sometimes let the person come in and spill their
10:26
guts and explain the problem they're having and
10:29
probe them a bit. What have they thought about
10:32
and how have they analyzed the different ideas
10:37
they've come up with? Make it a learning opportunity
10:40
for the individual, the manager. So yeah, that's
10:45
what I'd recommend. Okay, good. In times of change,
10:49
what role does networking play in helping leaders
10:53
guide their teams and organizations effectively?
10:57
We all know change is messy, right? It never
11:01
quite goes the way you hoped. We lay out a plan,
11:05
we think it's perfect, and we start implementing
11:08
it and things don't always go as... We hope you
11:12
need to be in touch with not only the people
11:15
directly involved in the plan, but also, again,
11:20
your network to give you some advice and guidance
11:23
that we implemented ABC and it's not working
11:28
or we've had these problems. And this is what
11:30
I'm thinking of doing. These are the changes
11:33
I'm thinking of making. Does that make sense?
11:35
I'm getting some feedback from them. So again,
11:39
your network can be a great source of ideas and
11:44
feedback to you to consider, am I thinking clearly?
11:50
Am I seeing the picture clearly? Do I need to
11:54
make some adjustments that I'm not aware of?
11:59
So that can be very helpful to the change leader.
12:04
Absolutely. Absolutely. You rely on your network
12:07
to help you sort things out. Of course, the answer,
12:12
you always have to answer it yourself, right?
12:14
You always have to go with your gut and everything
12:16
else. But it's good to hear it from other people.
12:19
Can you share a story where a leader's network
12:24
directly helped them navigate a major transition
12:27
or challenge? Let's see. I was involved in a
12:34
pretty major change initiative at the company
12:37
I worked at. We were introducing continuous improvement
12:42
philosophy into the operation. Now, this goes
12:46
back 30, 40 years ago. And there was an outside
12:50
consultant group that was hired to lead the training
12:55
and the actions and what have you. changed throughout
13:04
the company. Now, this is a big company, 20 ,000
13:06
employees, so it wasn't a small deal. And there
13:11
was lots of training going on, lots of new process
13:14
changes were being implemented and what have
13:17
you. And I would say that the efforts to make
13:22
this happen, I would say the change leader did
13:27
a lot of networking and consulting with a variety
13:30
of people. to get their inputs and their ideas
13:34
to understand how's it going? Is it working?
13:38
What metrics? Are we tracking the right metrics?
13:42
What do we need to change to make it even better?
13:46
So there's a lot of outside input. Again, not
13:51
that everything was accepted and taken verbatim.
13:54
Like you said, Michael, you got to trust your
13:57
gut and you got to have a sense of Is this going
14:00
the way I had hoped or wanted? And having the
14:05
right metrics you're tracking to assess are the
14:09
results going good? But that was an example of
14:12
using a broader network to solicit their input
14:17
as well as the people directly involved. I think
14:20
that's really important. I have seen some change
14:24
initiatives where Once the plan gets formalized,
14:29
the senior leader who wants the change to happen
14:33
isn't as active or involved as he should be.
14:38
They disappear and they think it's going to take
14:40
care of itself. And again, it doesn't. There's
14:42
lots of little things that come up and people
14:45
get discouraged. And the other thing is we're
14:48
trying to have people. changed to new ways while
14:52
they're still doing their old ways of working.
14:56
Their plates are already overflowing and we're
14:59
giving them yet one or two or three more tasks
15:02
that they have to learn and do. And they're like
15:05
scratching their head like I'm stressed out.
15:07
I can't take on anything else. I just can't do
15:09
it. So the senior leader needs to be aware of
15:13
that and make adjustments. change the plan as
15:18
needed and it's dynamic but they have to stay
15:21
close to the action i guess is what i'm saying
15:23
that that's true they can't forget where they
15:27
came from yeah that's that's the biggest thing
15:30
all of a sudden they get to a position of power
15:32
and they're like this is the way it is and that's
15:35
it and forgetting completely that all of these
15:38
people have jobs and everything is on their plate
15:42
now. So when you're adding to it, what do you
15:45
really do? Are you taking away from the other
15:48
tasks at hand? So you really have to take all
15:51
into consideration. You're absolutely right.
15:53
How can emerging leaders use networking to develop
15:59
the skills they need to lead effectively in the
16:02
future? I think to develop your skills, I think
16:07
it's a lifelong journey. And I think there's
16:10
a number of things you can do, but let me mention
16:13
a couple. I think one is you can observe other
16:18
leaders who are really good at a particular skill.
16:22
For example, when I was early in my career, there
16:26
was one particular manager who was outstanding
16:29
at running meetings. So every time I went to
16:33
one of his meetings, I would make a point to
16:35
study him, what he did, how he ran it, how he
16:40
facilitated it, when he made decisions, how he
16:44
involved the group. So my point is observing
16:47
other people, other top performers, I should
16:51
say, is one way. to get ideas and techniques
16:56
that work, and you can think about how do I incorporate
16:59
that into my approach. Having a mentor. Now,
17:04
I find if you have a big network, in that network
17:09
you can identify one or two or more people who
17:14
have accomplished what you want to accomplish,
17:17
and you can approach them and ask them to be
17:21
your mentor. and have a one -on -one relationship
17:25
with that person. And again, tap their brain
17:28
and what they've done, and they can give you,
17:32
again, some valuable advice and guidance on how
17:35
to handle different situations and how to be
17:38
more effective and things like that. In general,
17:42
using your network If you have a good network,
17:46
you have some people that have expertise in certain
17:49
areas that maybe you're not as strong as you'd
17:52
like to be. For example, I'm not great in AI.
17:56
It's a new thing coming on. I'm trying to find
18:00
a couple of people who are expert or more expert
18:03
than I am so I can network with them and they
18:06
can give me insights of the. tool and how I can
18:11
use it more effectively in various ways, things
18:14
like that. So using your network to tap into
18:19
the various skill sets that they may have can
18:25
be a plus to develop your skills. Also getting
18:29
feedback. We all need feedback to improve. Asking
18:35
someone in your network, hey, you're coming to
18:38
this presentation I'm making on Tuesday. Would
18:41
you observe me and focus in on how many effective
18:46
questions do I ask during my presentation? Or
18:50
how often do I pause effectively to let the audience
18:54
to consider the point I'm trying to make? So
18:57
give them some things to focus in on, to give
19:02
you feedback on. to help you, again, be a better
19:06
presenter down the road. So that's a few different
19:09
ways you could use your network. That's so true.
19:13
And just going on the point of having a mentor.
19:17
is so important. And really, no matter what level
19:20
you're at, if you're at a low level management
19:24
leading, you need a mentor to help you through
19:28
it. If you're a middle management or even a C
19:30
-suite executive, it's always good to have a
19:32
mentor because you need to throw some things
19:35
at him and say, what about this? Did I do this
19:37
right? Or could I do it differently? Or is there
19:40
something that I'm missing? I mentor two people,
19:43
but I also have a mentor because Everybody always
19:48
needs a mentor. Everybody. And the more you can
19:51
get. Now, where AI is concerned, I had no idea,
19:55
but I began writing. I connected with somebody
19:59
who had an AI company, and I'm writing an article
20:04
for him for AI and networking on three different
20:09
platforms. So I do that every week. And I'm finding
20:13
that the more I write for AI, the more... branding
20:18
I'm getting. I'm not necessarily getting a customer
20:21
or a client, but I'm branding myself. I'm using
20:25
AI in that way. But yes, you need that point
20:29
of view that isn't not necessarily like yours,
20:33
but someone who you can throw something like,
20:35
did I do this right? Or can I do this better?
20:38
And an ongoing relationship like that. But yes,
20:41
it's very important. Do you see certain leadership
20:44
styles being more effective at building trust
20:48
and influence through networking? I have taught
20:54
over the years basically three leadership styles.
21:00
One is directing, telling people what to do,
21:03
how to do it, when to have it done by. One is
21:06
discussing, asking questions, involving people.
21:11
getting their thoughts and ideas. And the third
21:14
one is delegating. Basically, I think leaders
21:18
use those styles when they're working with their
21:21
direct reports or the people in their organization.
21:26
Now, would you use those styles when you're networking?
21:31
I think when you're networking, basically you're
21:34
discussing. You're asking questions to get...
21:39
thoughts and ideas and approaches they would
21:43
use. If you're a mentor, you might be delegating
21:49
to your mentee, telling them before our next
21:53
meeting, I want you to do ABC and come to the
21:57
meeting and we'll discuss it. Directing not so
22:01
much would be used, but I think trust is something
22:08
that develops over time. And I think it's basically
22:12
being true to your word and doing what you commit
22:19
to do and being present and focused on helping
22:26
the person improve and providing them the best
22:30
advice you can give if you're the person that's
22:34
being asked for that advice. I don't know, that's
22:37
rambling, but those are some thoughts on trust
22:41
and leadership styles. I don't know, what do
22:44
you think? Well, what I think is it really depends
22:47
on your role within the company or your own company.
22:52
But the most important thing is, A, you have
22:55
to be present, you have to be authentic, but
22:58
you have to come through with what you said you
23:01
were going to do. Because once you don't do that,
23:05
You lost all that trust. With the networking,
23:07
it's know you, like you, trust you. They'll do
23:09
business with you. And to know you, everybody
23:13
knows you, like you. You're a very likable guy,
23:16
but that may narrow the scope down just a little
23:18
bit. But that trust factor is so important. And
23:21
how do you attain that trust factor? So you have
23:25
to come through with what you say you're going
23:27
to come through at a minimum. You always over
23:30
deliver. So you always over -deliver, you always
23:33
come up with that at a minimum, but you're always
23:36
a true leader, doesn't just delegate the information,
23:41
just close their eyes to it. There's got to be
23:45
some feedback. And however you deal with the
23:48
feedback, that's up to you. But that's my take.
23:51
Yeah, no, I think that makes a lot of sense.
23:53
And I think consistency is so important. Absolutely.
23:57
You've got to be consistent. You can't do it
24:00
one time, but not the next time. Or you miss
24:03
assignments or dates or you miss meetings. People,
24:08
you lose trust very quickly. You can lose it
24:11
very quickly. Yeah. Yeah. It takes over time
24:14
how to attain that trust value. I was in the
24:18
military and they always told us you get a thousand
24:22
out of boys. You did a great job. You did great.
24:24
It's great. But one or shit, you will screw up
24:27
once and you'll lose all of it. Yeah, yeah. So
24:30
it's so easy to lose, but when you get it, so
24:33
that's the big difference. Yeah, yeah. When leading
24:37
change, how can leaders use their network to
24:41
build buy -in and reduced resistance? Getting
24:44
them involved early on and soliciting their views.
24:50
And helping them become part of the change initiative
24:54
certainly increases buy -in. No one likes to
24:59
be mandated that you need to do X, Y, Z. And
25:02
it's totally first time you're hearing it. It's
25:05
totally new. You've had no input. You're not
25:08
prepared for it. So yeah, getting them involved
25:12
early and often is really important. Absolutely.
25:20
And I've been in this situation all too many
25:22
times. But if you get the people, when you delegate
25:27
or when you give them responsibility and you
25:30
take their feedback, but you actually implement
25:33
some of the items that they suggested, then all
25:38
of a sudden they have a new, renewed feeling
25:40
about the project or changes and they feel more
25:45
of a buy -in and you get a lot more out of them.
25:49
And sometimes explaining why you didn't accept
25:53
maybe one of the points or one of the comments
25:56
they had is also valuable. You know, so they
25:59
understand why you didn't do X, Y, Z that they
26:03
recommended. There may be a very legitimate reason
26:06
for your thinking and why you didn't accept that
26:10
particular idea. Yeah, it's the days of when
26:15
a boss. I have a big distinction between a boss
26:20
and a leader. And a long time ago, it's like
26:24
in the 50s and 60s, even part of the 70s, the
26:28
boss would say, you do it this way because I
26:29
said so. And I said so doesn't fly. It may be
26:34
totally legitimate reasons. You can explain that
26:38
to them and they might say, oh, you know what?
26:41
I never thought about that. You're right. Give
26:43
them that little bit of a buy -in. and have them
26:46
understand what's going on. What's one networking
26:49
mistake leaders make when trying to expand their
26:53
influence? One mistake that they make? Yeah,
26:57
one mistake. I think some networking to me is
27:02
this reciprocity. You have to give to get. It's
27:07
not just one way. Some leaders don't treat it
27:12
that way. It's all take. And just they don't
27:17
provide the support and assistance and advice
27:22
and ideas when they could to people in their
27:25
network. So I think the key is treating networking
27:31
as a reciprocal type arrangement where you can
27:36
help the people in your network. When you can
27:39
help the people in your network, you do. You
27:42
take those steps. It could be a great article
27:45
for them to read or a great seminar or a great
27:48
thought you had about something. But it's providing
27:52
advice and guidance as well as going to them
27:56
for advice and guidance. So it's mutual reciprocity
28:01
is key. Yeah, I'm going to take that one step
28:04
further. OK, you always bring value to the relationship,
28:09
right? When you network. If you have what's called
28:13
a servant's heart, if you look to give and not
28:17
to receive, and you're thinking like, why did
28:20
I come here in the first place if I'm not going
28:23
to sell anything or get any clients, but I'm
28:26
just looking to help anybody who I bump into?
28:29
That's called having a servant's heart. And so
28:32
when you look to give, constantly look to give
28:36
to a person that you're talking to, bring value.
28:40
connect on LinkedIn, but they connect and say
28:43
goodbye. If you want somebody, you want to expand
28:46
your influence, you can connect with a person.
28:49
And as you said, bring an article about something
28:52
that was written and say, look, I found this.
28:56
I feel that you might find it valuable here.
28:59
Take it. That type of thing. And if you're constantly
29:02
giving, it will come around. Bob Berg. speaks
29:07
about this often. He's a very big speaker about
29:11
networking, communication, and everything else.
29:14
It's your giving and not to receive. And you
29:17
will see that you'll get twice as many clients
29:21
by doing that rather than just networking used
29:26
to be transactional. I have a widget. It's $3.
29:31
How many do you want? You'll take it. Okay, good.
29:33
I'll give you an invoice. We're done. That's
29:36
having a customer base. But I really feel that
29:39
ever since the pandemic, we've moved it to a
29:42
relationship base. And it's more of the relationships
29:47
you have, not just customers. So that's a way
29:50
to look at it. Yep. How can leaders intentionally
29:54
create networks that are diverse in perspective,
29:58
not just industry or background? I think on LinkedIn,
30:03
you can build your network through various means,
30:09
but you can broaden it to people outside your
30:13
function or industry and get some people that
30:19
have different orientations or different types
30:22
of jobs in your network. And it's interesting.
30:26
I've written a lot of books about leadership.
30:32
often do is I go to a variety of people to get
30:37
their thoughts and ideas about my leadership
30:39
styles. For example, in my last book, I interviewed
30:43
the local fire chief at the fire department,
30:47
and I asked him about how he used the three styles
30:52
of leading. Now, he wouldn't typically identify
30:56
himself as a leader, or he wouldn't be someone
30:59
I'd typically go to. I'd usually go to people
31:02
in the business world, executives and CEOs and
31:06
what have you, but getting different points of
31:09
view. Another example, I went to the local artist
31:13
in our town. Now, what's an artist have to do
31:17
with leadership? I wanted to see how she approached
31:22
painting. Did she start with the big picture
31:26
idea? Did she start with the background outline?
31:30
How did she think about the vision that she was
31:35
trying to convey? My point is going to different
31:38
people that are not typically in your industry
31:43
or function can be very interesting to see how
31:48
they view the problem or issue or question you
31:52
have. So going, a football coach is going to
31:55
give you a different view than a policeman or
31:59
Someone who's into the arts or a comedian. I
32:03
one time, I taught leadership and I one time
32:06
invited a comedian into my class to talk about
32:10
how does he engage the audience? What does he
32:14
do to connect with people? And again, you get
32:18
some interesting ideas about, oh, I never thought
32:22
of that, or that's interesting that you would
32:24
do that. So I'm rambling again a little bit,
32:28
but. broaden your views and include people outside
32:33
your immediate domain to increase the diversity
32:38
of ideas that you might come up with and might
32:43
help you see it from a different point of view.
32:47
You're absolutely right. And you by you going
32:50
to all these different types of people, different
32:54
types of leaders, because they're leaders in
32:56
their own right. And you're getting the input
32:59
from all these different directions. But I find
33:02
it most the comedian when you brought the comedian
33:07
in and public speaking and comedians have a lot
33:12
in common. Right. We're always. Timing everything.
33:16
We're always waiting for that pause that you
33:20
wait for the audience to respond. That's keeping
33:22
everybody in check. But you get from all these
33:27
different sources, my military background, thinking
33:32
about my leaders from behind, some were like
33:36
strictly military and others were like business
33:40
minded. And they talk about you and everything
33:43
else. Their orders usually, whatever they said,
33:46
that was it. But some explained, some didn't
33:50
explain, some told me what to do, some explained
33:54
what I had to do. Various different people, very
33:57
different ways. You get much more out of it.
33:59
And I understand that 100%. In your experience,
34:03
what daily or weekly networking habits separate
34:07
good leaders from great ones? I think the great
34:12
ones, the quality of their network is different.
34:19
I think they have people who have excelled, some
34:24
people that have excelled in their field. So
34:28
they're getting top information from those outstanding
34:36
individuals, let's say. I think people that have
34:41
a good network but not a great network, they
34:44
have a good variety of people, but they maybe
34:50
could broaden it a little bit more or maybe they
34:53
could include a few outstanding people or a few
34:58
people like we were talking about before that
35:00
have excelled in different domains that would
35:04
be of interest and they'd gain some new ideas
35:08
from so i think that would help i don't know
35:12
if that answers the question but that's what
35:14
i think about it enough okay let's bring this
35:17
podcast full circle if you could give one piece
35:21
of advice to leaders looking to strengthen both
35:24
their leadership and their network at the same
35:27
time what would it be take time to make your
35:33
network a priority think about who is in your
35:39
network who do you go to on a regular basis and
35:46
maybe how do you need to change it up a little
35:49
bit who should you or who could you include in
35:54
your network that would give you valuable candid
35:58
honest feedback or advice so in what ways can
36:03
you enhance your network. I guess that's a good
36:07
way of thinking about it. And that's something
36:09
we probably all need to be thinking about on
36:12
a regular basis. And if you do that, you're broadening
36:17
your source of information, source of ideas,
36:23
and source of feedback on things that you've
36:28
attempted to do or want to do and that type of
36:31
thing. That's really good. I want you to think
36:34
about one additional thing that I don't want
36:38
you to think about your network, right? You think
36:42
about how expansive, how broad your network is,
36:45
but that's really not your network. You have
36:49
to think about whose network are you in? So if
36:54
you change that way of thinking, say, okay, look,
36:57
they're in my network. I connected with them
36:58
and everything else, but who am I? Am I in whose
37:03
network? And that will really give you the best
37:07
answer. Paul, I have to tell you, this was great.
37:10
We had a great conversation. You had so many
37:14
points to remember of leadership and all the
37:17
different aspects of it. It was great. If somebody
37:21
wants to get hold of you, what's the best way?
37:24
I'm pretty active on LinkedIn. I try to write
37:28
something there two to three times a week. I've
37:32
written 28 books on leadership. They're all available
37:37
on Amazon. The ones that I highly recommend are
37:41
Leadership Styles. I think that's a really great
37:44
book. The Leadership Process is another good
37:48
book. And the one I most recently wrote was Add
37:52
Value, Improve the Status Quo. So my books are
37:58
good sources to do expand on some of these ideas
38:01
and see what you think. And they're all inexpensive.
38:05
They're not going to break your bank. They're
38:08
like $4 .99. So they're inexpensive and they're
38:12
a quick read. I'm a big believer in getting your
38:14
big idea out there succinctly. My books are typically
38:20
50 to 70 pages long. So it's not a... 300 -page
38:26
manual you got to get through. And I think the
38:28
ideas, the feedback I get, the ideas are practical
38:33
and usable and help people be more effective
38:38
leaders and add value, make a difference. So
38:41
that's what I would say. Paul, thank you very
38:44
much for coming on the podcast. It was great
38:47
having you. And I look to speak with you again.
38:50
Thank you, Michael. I appreciate being on, and
38:53
let's do it again and down the road a few months.
38:56
Sure. Well, hold on, folks. Don't go anywhere.
39:03
Let's hear from our sponsors. David Neal, co
39:07
-founder, Revved Up Kids. Revved Up Kids is on
39:10
a mission to protect children and teens from
39:13
sexual abuse, exploitation, and trafficking.
39:16
They provide prevention training programs for
39:20
children, teens, and adults. To learn more, go
39:23
to revvedupkids .org. Henry Kaplan, Century 21.
39:28
When it comes to making the biggest financial
39:30
decision of your life, leave it in the hands
39:33
of a proven professional, Henry Kaplan. Henry
39:37
is a global real estate agent with Century 21,
39:40
celebrating his 41st year in business. No matter
39:44
where you're moving, Henry has the right connections
39:47
for you. You can contact Henry at 561 -427 -4888.
39:54
A huge thank you to our guests for sharing such...
39:58
insights today. And of course, a big shout out
40:01
to you, our amazing listeners, for tuning in
40:04
and spending your time with us. If you're interested
40:07
in my digital courses, being coached or having
40:11
me come and talk to your company, just go to
40:14
Michael and fill out the request form. Remember,
40:17
networking isn't about being perfect. It's about
40:21
being present. So take what you've learned today,
40:24
get out there and make some meaningful connections.
40:27
If you've enjoyed this episode, please don't
40:30
forget to subscribe. Leave us a review and share
40:33
it with someone who could use a little networking
40:35
inspiration. Let's keep the conversation going.
40:39
You can find me on Apple, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube,
40:43
or my website, foreman .com slash podcasts.