Networking…

As a professional with dyslexia, I want to make sure I stay as organized as possible. I enjoy making new connections and building great friendships inside my network. Building a network is important, especially when you need to advocate for yourself at times. There have been times I’ve had to advocate for myself, both in my personal life as well as my professional life. Knowing that I have a network of support has made advocating easier.

Over the past 10 years I’ve worked at building my network using some simple activities that I learned from a previous leader with a former sales job. This tip has led to more meaningful engagement at work and in my personal life. As a result, I have always felt supported and empowered to advocate for myself when needed. Additionally, I’ve had the opportunity to make many great connections and create a lot of wonderful memories.

During a recent career change I learned firsthand the full value of building a strong network, the impact it can have when you are looking for the necessary support you need, and the sense of community to keep momentum going. These simple activities can be used both professionally, as well as personally.  

Make a list of all the people professionally and personally that you want to keep in touch with. Then go through that list and add a note if you want to speak with each person regularly, occasionally, on a specific holiday or once a year. After you do this, then set a reminder in your online calendar. 

This tip was great advice, and I was able to expand upon it to help keep consistent in multiple areas of my life. I also ensured that I had the birthdates or other special dates, emails, and postal addresses for these contacts in my phone.  I also save the names of children, including fur babies and spouses. 

This enables me to keep up with having more meaningful communications. Avoid forgetting a birthday or important date and getting out my holiday cards with less procrastination. This also comes in handy when you want to have more than adding another connection via LinkedIn or other social media site with those who you would like to build a relationship with. As a person with dyslexia, I realize I need extra support and tools at times, and this has been one of the best investments of my time I have made.