Networking Genius: The Events Catalyst

15 Feb

Episode show notes

2022 is the year you network like never before. In-person events are steadily returning and there’s nothing like making a connection face to face, but after so long away from physical events, do we remember how to make the most of them?

If the answer’s not a resounding ‘Yes’, then we’ve got you covered with this week’s guest on The Company Doctor Podcast; GSMA’s Chief Marketing Officer, Stephanie Lynch-Habib.

Stephanie shares her superb advice on using events as a networking catalyst, leveraging opportunities, and how to summon confidence in the face of impostor syndrome.

Key takeaways from this episode:

Be authentic, don’t be what you’re not

Network with confidence

Take the time to listen

Quotes & Highlights

“There's millions of podcasts in the world that people don't follow through on. People will listen to this podcast, and most people won't make it to part three of this podcast, but in part three, you know what? I've got the secret. The world is littered with people - myself included at times - that start and don't finish, they start and stop.” - 5:35 - Gary Gamp

“I'm not completely anti-new year’s resolutions, but I'm anti-stop-start, and I'm also anti-people that say they’re not having resolutions because they get disappointed. Yeah, of course you’ll be disappointed if you decide not to do it for that reason!” - 8:10 - Gary Gamp

“Move away from generic, unattainable goals like ‘I'm gonna get thin in 2022’. These are big, generic, not-that-exciting goals. They're not specific enough. It's a one off thing, that doesn't necessarily have a bit of an on-ramp. It doesn't give you a path.” - 11:25 - Gary Gamp

“I want you, every three months, to think of three specific things that will make you feel joyful, not things that make you go ‘Oh for God's sake’. That might be hard, because if it is something like wanting to lose weight, think about how it will make you joyful because of the result rather than the effort you've got to take to get there.” - 17:00 - Gary Gamp

“If you decide to swim across a river, and you only swim 95% of the way, what's going to happen? You'll drown. And that's it; my objective of this episode is to convince a small number of people to be a completer-finisher, and I'm trying to help you do it on a regular basis. You will reap the rewards and it makes you feel good and gives you confidence. It'll give you a sense of achievement, and most important of all, you'll get closer to what you want.” - 21:50 - Gary Gamp

“The goal for being an anti-New Year's Resolution policy is to change a habit. So my 23 Day Challenge, if you're up for it, I've got a little game for everyone to play, but it's going to be worth it.” - 25:45 - Gary Gamp

“If your furniture wasn't very good and you wanted to change it, you put all your furniture in the garage. You've ordered new furniture and it takes 6 weeks to “The statistical history that we have says that there was benefit to convening in person. There was benefit in getting a number of important players in the industry in one place together for a short but productive period of time, and that's just the business part of it.” - 7:25 - Stephanie Lynch-Habib

“MWC is a platform that’s seen as one of innovation and one where those that have innovation to offer want to come and use that platform to promote, and to evangelise what they believe in.” - 8:55 - Stephanie Lynch-Habib

“You're likely as a B2B person to be attending this event because your company's letting you go, they're allowing you to spend the time investment. So I would sort of split that investment into what are your objectives?” - 11:55 - Stephanie Lynch-Habib

“I would not hesitate to make sure that you take a little bit of time to see some of the content. You might not have hours and hours to sit in the keynote sessions, but go see one, because you're going to get an idea or two that you did not walk in the room with. It's going to spur ideas even as you leave the room.” - 15:30 - Stephanie Lynch-Habib

“In the first conference, I found myself having to insert myself into the conversations, because the feeling that I took away was a little bit of imposter syndrome, in the sense that I was afraid to get to the table with these ladies. But once I finally nudged my way in at a lunch or a break, you realise everyone is just people. They're just people.” - 19:45 - Stephanie Lynch-Habib

“If you're shy, an introvert, or just not feeling it, take a close ally with you to network together. Then you have somebody next to you, you feel more confident, and you can both bounce off of each other and then contribute to the larger group.” - 23:00 - Stephanie Lynch-Habib

“Be yourself. Don't be what you're not. Try to be as confident as you can - don't be overly confident but trust what you know, trust what you're able to talk about. And listen; it’s got to be about the connection you make with the other and listening to them is probably the most powerful thing.” - 24:30 - Stephanie Lynch-Habibcome, right? So you're now in your house and you've got no furniture, what are you going to do? Bring it back out again. That's what people do every day. Unless you make something a habit, unless you replace the bad stuff with the good stuff, then nothing will change.” - 28:10 - Gary Gamp

Episode keywords

TheCompanyDoctor, podcast, podcasting, business, business podcast, CEO, CMO, COO, CFO, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, networking, marketing, networking genius, gsma, mwc barcelona 2022, mwc, stephanie lynch habib, events, physical events, networking event, keynote, impostor syndrome,