From My Inbox: You Asked For It

A couple of notifications in rapid fire succession on WhatsApp broke my concentration.

The first message began with "So...I am networking with myself tonight...".

Strange, this is not how I'd suggest approaching this activity. Reading the messages which followed, the sender's networking tale quickly took a sharp turn from mild humor to f'g horror.

Let me explain.

The sender is an accomplished, rather busy marketing professional. She resides in London, but with her travel schedule, Heathrow should be listed as her home address. She's also committed to mentoring and developing junior talent at her firm, so on those rare occasions she is in the office, she goes out of her way to carve time for these activities.

Which brings me back to my friend's "I am networking by myself" text.

It seems, a number of junior colleagues were clamoring for time with her, so in the interest of efficiency and scheduling and "I really do want to be accessible as a mentor", it was decided amongst the group of question askers that they would gather with my friend at a wine bar close to the office. They picked the time and the convenient location. Now all they had to do was show up at the agreed upon time and location with their questions...

At the 40 minute mark of waiting, my friend texted me.

And from the picture, the plate of charcuterie she was nibbling on BY HERSELF looked rather delicious (not having to share and being able to double-dip are two positives if you ever find yourself networking alone). But come on! How are we even having this conversation???

Not that they asked me, but here's my advice for the wine-bar networking no-shows:

🍷 Manners 101: when you request a meeting, keep the meeting (or have the courtesy to cancel at a respectable time in advance of the set meeting time).

🍷 Consequences 101: when you waste the time of a busy person, don't even begin to imagine they will be enthusiastically saying yes to your meeting requests in the future.

🍷 Hindsight 101: recognize you messed up, royally, as this mistake should not be repeated.

Need more?

“Life is not a solo act. It’s a big, messy, delightful ensemble piece, especially when you are with your people.” - Kermit the Frog

🤔 Want More Women in Leadership? Tell Them They’re Losing Out (Knowledge at Wharton)