Build Your Dream Network

To be successful in nearly any role (or in any job search), you need to demonstrate to employers your mastery of soft skills. In this episode, Kelly takes a look at the five most in-demand soft skills (creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability, and emotional intelligence) and unpacks what these are and how to show you've got them so you can boost your career advancement. 

     And for more great career advice, check out Boss Notes, a new email series from Penguin Random House providing step-by-step guidance to navigate common career challenges and start living your best work life now! Click here (www.prh.com/boss-notes) to sign up. 

Executive recruiter (and a featured interviewee in the Build Your Dream Network book for her savvy network-building insights) Jennifer Johnson joins Kelly on this episode to share her hard-earned wisdom on how to build a career or business network from scratch, and why contributing to professional networks and organizations is essential for career advancement. 

Joining a professional organization or participating in an industry association's events may sound like networking drudgery, but it is actually at the heart of career success. Learn how to stop overlooking these vital resources and discover the many ways being involved in them can help you advance your current career, change jobs, or move into a new field entirely.

When someone in your network makes an introduction for you, traditional etiquette says you should do the same thing for them. But when is reciprocating actually required? For every introduction you receive, do you need to make one for them in return? In this episode, Kelly debunks the myth that this old intro-for-an-intro kind of reciprocation is necessary and offers other thoughtful ways you can return the favor to someone that they will appreciate just as much and may even find more useful.

The eve of a new year (and new decade) is a great time to reflect and celebrate career milestones, as it can be so easy to overlook smaller but significant wins when you're laser focused on one big goal. In this episode, Kelly first offers a thoughtful reminder to pause and enjoy all you've accomplished, and then revisits the recent episode, "Use Your Network To Achieve Your New Year’s Resolutions," to help you gear up for the exciting new year and decade ahead.

A new year means new possibilities to build your relationships. But how do you muster the motivation if you're dragging from end-of-year indulgences or feeling strapped after all the holiday festivities? Get creative and take Kelly's 30-Day Networking Challenge! Armed with her fun and easy ideas for connecting with others, you can start off the new year with a bang.

It's time to kick the habit of making and breaking New Year's resolutions! Whether your goal is saving more, losing weight, or switching careers, you'll find it easier (and much more fun) to achieve if you include your network in the process. Kelly's tips and tricks will help you recruit the support you need to take on those resolutions and triumph at last.

If you've ever wondered whether it's possible to have a meaningful conversation around a complex subject with others on Twitter, here's your answer: yes. Digital Media Advisor Heidi Moore routinely breaks down complex financial concepts (such as the inverted yield curve) with her vast following there. As one of TIME Magazine's Top 100 Tweeters and one of the first 100 Twitter accounts to be included on the Bloomberg News terminal, it's no surprise that Heidi's online conversations with her network are engaging, fact-based, and often viral. In this special, in-depth episode, she shares her tips and tricks for connecting and engaging with others on Twitter while avoiding its notorious trolls.

The holidays are a wonderful time of year to connect with friends, colleagues and family--and you can network joyfully without ever having to send out holiday cards or host a gathering. Check out Kelly's tips in this episode for making networking fun and festive!

Courtesy appears to have been deleted in the digital age, so I sought the guidance of best-selling author and host of the Southern Lady Code podcast, Helen Ellis to reinterpret rules of etiquette for hyper-digital bad manners.

You can listen to Helen's podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/southern-lady-code/id1441604779

You can follow Helen on Twitter at @WhatIDoAllDay and on Instagram at @americanhousewife.