Connect & Thrive

with barbara leicht, mindset career coach

In today’s competitive job market, making genuine connections is crucial for career success and personal growth. As a career coach based in Rochester, I’m excited to show you how networking can be both enjoyable and effective when approached as an opportunity to connect and engage. By blending authenticity with strategy, and refining your social media presence, you can turn networking into a rewarding experience. In this guide, I’ll also cover how to achieve a healthy work-life balance and build a personal brand that truly represents you. Let’s dive into these strategies to enhance your networking, find balance, and create a standout personal brand.

Tips to Effectively Network and Create Meaningful Connections

To network successfully, it’s essential to remain both authentic and strategic. Authenticity means honoring your personal values and communication styles while showing a genuine interest in others. It often involves building rapport before diving into business discussions. Being strategic means understanding both your goals and those of the people you meet to ensure a win-win situation. Make your networking efforts mutually beneficial.

To be authentic, start by understanding your sociability preferences. Are you more introverted, extroverted, or ambiverted? I’m 60% extroverted and 40% introverted, so I’ve learned to respect my alone time to recharge. If you’re introverted but find yourself in a highly social environment, plan time to recharge during and after these interactions.

Familiarize yourself with social media platforms. While you don’t need to master every platform, choose two and become proficient. Post authentically and strategically, maintaining healthy boundaries while engaging with others (liking, commenting, sharing, etc.) both before and after your posts.

Achieving a Healthy Work-Life Balance

A key factor is ensuring a high-quality fit within your job, including responsibilities and company culture. This alignment leads to sustainable, high-quality work and life. To attain this, align your work with your goals and values, and be aware of your work/life values, dislikes, and stress triggers.

Daily work-life balance strategies include:

• Self-affirmation (I use a Credit Journal with prompts to affirm strengths, acknowledge accomplishments, and overcome gaslighting and imposter syndrome)

• Taking a 5-minute break every 25 minutes (Try the Pomodoro Technique)

• Stretching at your desk (Desk yoga is wonderful)

• Practicing deep breathing (such as the box method or a 30-second technique from the Emotional Intelligence Network – 6seconds.org)

• Taking a walk (outside, around the office, or at home)

• Blocking time (for lunch and between clients or meetings)

• Celebrating everyday wins (especially the small ones!)

Overall, work-life balance is about maintaining healthy boundaries. Learn to say no while remaining open to constructive feedback from trusted sources. Prioritizing is key.

Building Your Personal Brand

Personal branding reflects your essence and daily choices. It’s about your personality and values. In personal branding, this shows up in your spoken language, email tone, social media taglines, and your overall presence at events or online.

Personal branding also helps streamline decision-making. For instance, cobalt is my favorite color, simplifying outfit choices and shopping. If I’m not in blue, it’s likely pink or peach with neutrals.

Regardless of appearance, stay genuine. We don’t need to be perfect—personal branding is most effective in how we treat others. As Maya Angelou said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

To start your personal branding journey:

1. Think of Personal Branding as Personality + Values

2. Identify your top values, dislikes, and triggers

3. Know your communication style and social preferences

4. Choose clothing and accessories that suit you and make you feel energized or relaxed

5. Use 1-4 as a blueprint for decision-making, whether verbal, written, or physical interactions

Bonus: Consider a signature style element. For me, that’s lipstick and wearing local clothing and accessories.

Challenges Women Entrepreneurs Face Today

Women are increasingly successful entrepreneurs, now potentially outnumbering male counterparts.

Here are some challenges I’ve encountered, some gender-specific and others not:

• Determining which networking groups to join (I’m still navigating this, but I embrace the journey)

• Deciding how much to invest (and being taken seriously in conversations)

• Flexing communication (and creating space to stay assertive without judgment)

I’m a fan of flexing communication, especially as an ambivert who customizes services to people’s goals, values, and communication styles. Flexing communication is a valuable skill, particularly in leadership roles.

However, flexing communication can become toxic when unrealistic expectations are imposed. Often, women and historically marginalized individuals are denied the grace and respect to be assertive. Assertive communication is healthy and necessary. It’s not okay to force people into submissive or codependent roles. Everyone benefits from assertive communication and deserves the space, grace, and respect to use it effectively.

As you navigate networking, work-life balance, and personal branding, keep in mind that success is a journey. Be genuine, stay open to new experiences, and stay true to your values. By building real connections, finding your balance, and defining a brand that reflects who you are, you'll not only advance professionally but also find more satisfaction in your personal life. Here’s to making meaningful connections, achieving balance, and showcasing your unique self—cheers to your growth and success!

Cheers to being your best self!

@becareerdevelopment // @rochestershops