Networking
“Networking is a reciprocal process, an exchange of ideas, leads, and suggestions
that support both professional and personal lives.” Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary
I teach workshops on Networking with Skill and Style which include techniques on how to establish and nurture connections that help you and others grow professionally.
Interested in learning to network effectively? CONTACT ME
Why? Because I teach what I’m passionate about.
When I moved from New York to California, I knew pretty much no one there.
When I moved from California to France, I left behind friends, business associates, colleagues, and a network built over 20 years.
When I discovered the Women’s Professional Networking Group in Lyon, France, I joined immediately – and then promptly began a local group with some of the professional women I’d met in Grenoble through the cultural association Open House.
Today, I have an international network of friends, business associates, colleagues…built over 10 years and boosted by the Working Women’s Network of Grenoble.
Through networking “American style” in France I have:
- found consulting work, contract work, and an interesting position with a startup here
- found a hairdresser, an optician, a knee surgeon (you know, the basics!)
- learned to cook and to appreciate wine
- bought a car
- sold a car
- bought a house
- designed a garden
- found travel partners to explore France, Europe, and the world
…and made many new friends in a new place.
Now that’s a testimonial to the power of networking – before LinkedIn and Facebook. Yes, social networking is awesome, but face-to-face networking is still powerful and irreplaceable.
Networking in France is a relatively new phenomenon. This is partly because of cultural differences in perception about what is appropriate behavior among strangers. My networking groups get around the cultural issues by networking a l’Americain – networking in English, American style.
Modified, of course, by the culture of our French members – our meetings have a distinctly French social flavor, uniquely spiced by American directness, punctuality, and get-to-the-point efficiency.
Another French mis-perception about networking is the (mistaken) idea that networking means using people.
So, I’m on a mission to teach that networking is about transforming relationships.
It’s about turning strangers into aquaintances, and aquaintances into friends. Networking is about looking for opportunities to help others and to create opportunities for others to help you. The Golden Rule of networking: Giving leads to receiving.
My Networking workshops are based on the 8 principles for effective networking developed in the book I wrote with Leads Club International President and CEO Lisa Bentson, Focused Networking: Eight Principles of 21st Century Marketing. (I was a Leads Club member and consultant for half a decade.)
Here are three that everyone should know.
- Introduce yourself to people in groups (Talking to strangers – yikes! Do it comfortably, and help people remember you.)
- Listen carefully. How can you help others?
- Explain clearly what you are looking for. How can others help you?
And do it all – gracefully - concisely – memorably! (Yes, I can teach you how. Ask me.)
The Working Women’s Network of Grenoble
The WWNG is an association of English-speaking professional women living and working in the Grenoble area. We build and maintain business and personal connections that help us in our daily work and lifetime careers.
Guiding Principles
- Give and receive.
- Enhance the value of our individual members as professionals, and of the group as a whole, by sharing information, knowledge, and leads as well as by providing general mutual support.
- Maintain professional and ethical standards.
- Be professional, ethical and courteous in your interactions with members, contacts, and leads.
- Participate actively.
- Maintain an active presence in the network, be visible to and contactable by other members, and come prepared to networking meetings, events, and activities.
Check out my article about the WWNG at Grenoble Life.
Our Membership Information and Guidelines give a bit more detail.
Follow the WWNG on Twitter or be a fan of the WWNG Facebook page. WWNG members also have the opportunity to take their networking online, by joining the WWNG group on LinkedIn.
The WWNG recently hosted “Networking²”
Members of nine Grenoble-area professional networks met recently to share information, knowledge, and leads. If you’re in the Grenoble area, you may want to check some of them out:
WWNG
Women’s Professional Networking Group Lyon - exactly what it sounds like. (Here’s an article I wrote about this group way back when.)
Ecobiz - the business resource network hosted by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Grenoble
Women@Work at HP - an internal, international employee network
Les Informelles - support for women creating their own businesses
Impulsion38 - resources for job-seekers
Association Française des Trésoriers d’Entreprise - a network of corporate finance professionals
C’A Dir - a network of professional administrative assistants
La Maison Internationale - run by the city of Grenoble, with resources for foreigners arriving and living here