In the third installment of our conversation with Theresa Royal Brown the founder of Entrepreneur Professional Network and CEO of Premier Events Management discuss how developing good networking skills not only helps you in your career but also helps you to grow as a leader.  

:13 – How does networking help develop leadership skills & how do these skills overlap?

As many know, being a leader means that you have to be assertive, you have to push for change, do things others won’t and learn to be bold. This overlaps with networking as when you network with others you must learn to be bold as well. You are speaking to people you do not know. By doing this, it helps you as a leader to begin to think outside the box & also receive outside the box thinking which is key to being a leader.  When you begin to start doing that internal networking, it forces you to change & really grow your thoughts & ideas.  As Theresa states, everything changes & as a leader you have to be able to change and adapt as well. By networking, you are opening yourself up to new ideas and ways to implement change.  

3:12 – The more you do something, the more you master your craft 

Networking is a skill. It is not a natural skill that we are all born with and that is something that a lot of people get wrong about networking. They believe they just can’t network but that couldn’t be further from the truth.  As Theresa explains to us, you can master networking simply by practicing it. The more you do something, the better you get. 

5:21 – There are commonalities with everyone you met 

Sometimes, it can seem overwhelming thinking about networking, but in reality, you can find commonalities with everyone.  There is always something you can talk about, whether it be your past schooling, jobs, the location you can find something. Which can make it less scary.  As mentioned earlier in the show, networking takes practice so if you can find a question and even if you ask that same question again and again that practice becomes a skill that becomes a habit and will turn into competency.  

6:45 – Everything is changing

As we all know, everything is always changing right now. That can sometimes bring around confusion and can lead others to feel as though they don’t understand it and if you don’t understand something you may run away from it — change is scary. Networking can be a tool to propel yourself forward and combat change. With this thought in mind, Theresa leaves us with her opinion on how she believes networking should be addressed in corporate situations and that is that companies should focus more energy on making sure employees are networking, with a focus on making employees network & interact with each other that can bring about more change.