Ruth Gotian has been hailed by the journal Nature and Columbia University as an expert in mentorship and leadership development. Recently, she was named as the #1 emerging management thinker in the world by Thinkers50. She was a semi-finalist for the Forbes 50 Over 50 list and has coached and mentored hundreds of people throughout her career.

In addition to being published in academic journals, she is a contributor to Forbes and Psychology Today, where she writes about optimizing success. She is the Chief Learning Officer in Anesthesiology and former Assistant Dean of Mentoring and Executive Director of the Mentoring Academy at Weill Cornell Medicine, where she is a faculty member. She is the author of The Success Factor: Developing the Mindset and Skillset for Peak Business Performance*.

In this conversation, Ruth and I explore her research on how high achievers build their networks — and also what works for us both in our personal practices. We discuss several tactics that most leaders can use to strengthen existing networks. Plus, we examine the mindsets that tend to lead to success in professional relationships, in spite of busy schedules.

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