Welcome back to Networking Unleashed, Building
Profitable Connections, the show where we explore
the strategies, mindsets, and conversations that
drive real results in business and life through
the power of connection. Today's guest is a true
authority when it comes to elevating your presence
in the professional world. He specializes...
In helping individuals build credibility, lead
with confidence, and craft personal brands that
don't just stand out, they lead to opportunities.
Whether you're climbing up the corporate ladder,
building a business, or just getting started
in your career, the insights you'll hear today
are going to give you a serious edge in how you
connect and influence. So get ready to take notes
because we're diving deep into what really takes
it to be seen, heard, and respected in any room
you walk into. I want to introduce to you today
Mitchell Levy, and he is, I would say, an authority
on networking. It may sound familiar to most
of you because I feel that we have a synergy
with this. But Mitchell, welcome to the show
and tell us a little bit about your background.
Michael, thanks for having me. And as I'll take
it to the next level, it's not just for individuals,
but I also spend a lot of time with corporations.
But back on rights, the best way to say it, I've
been in Silicon Valley for 38 years, happily
married for 36, have a 26 -year -old I'm excited
about. Now, I'm going to say this is stuff, so
I'll tell you the important stuff afterwards,
but this is stuff. I'm on the board of an asset
firm. As a book publisher, we've published over
750 books. I've written 65. Two TEDx's, one commencement
speech. And the short answer is I've done many
of the things in life, or actually all of my
bucket list item things. And now I'm here to
be of service. And what really got me to where
I am now is between 2019 and 2020, I went on
a Napoleon Hill journey. And that journey was
to interview 500 thought leaders on what the
concept of credibility is. And that helped really
transform who I am and how I show up today. Very
good. Like I said before, I'm super excited just
to even just to speak with you. Let's start with
the questions that I came up with. All right.
How do credibility and trust influence someone's
ability to build a powerful professional network?
So I will, for those who are watching, I will
share an image on the background as I'm speaking.
Credibility is the quality in which one is trusted,
known, and liked. And so the most important thing,
and I know on your website, you do this standard
one, which is where I started Know, Like, Trust.
Problem is, know, like, trust was relevant when,
in the old days, you'd go into a town on your
horse, you'd go into the local saloon, and there
are two blacksmiths, and you go to the barkeep,
hey, what's the best blacksmith for me? And they
go, not only are there two that you know, but
there's a third over here, that person would
be better. In the old days where there wasn't
the internet, there wasn't AI, you didn't know
who was who. Know meant I need to know where
that person is or what they do. Today, what happens
is you have instantaneous access to services
around the world. And so the most important thing
that needs to happen is they need to trust you.
And how does trust get developed? Technically,
it is, if we think about a LinkedIn profile,
we think about a website, it happens in the first
three to five seconds, right? So credibility
at first is you go to a website and you need
to trust. Are you ready? You need to trust that
you want to spend the next 30 seconds getting
to know this person a little bit better. As you
get to know the person a little bit better, then
you get to say, would I like working with this
person? Do I trust they'll do the job the way
I want them to do? And after that first five
seconds up front, the next 30 seconds, now you
might say to yourself, hey, I'm willing to spend
a couple minutes really learning who this person
is. So trust is if you don't get trust immediately,
you're completely losing the opportunity to even
be seen. So I know credibility and you want to
be seen by your prospects. Very good. And I see
what's happening with the knowing trust, which
is I speak about often, but trust, know and like.
You just turned it around. But I like what you
did with the authenticity, the servant leadership,
because. If anybody who's been listening to me
knows that networking starts with a servant's
heart and you always look to give instead of
receive. So all of this plays right into the
hands of my networking. So thank you. Oh, you're
welcome. Thank you. What are the key traits of
a leader that make them an effective networker?
You know, I could. Almost go as far. I'm going
to do my cheat sheet, if you don't mind. So I'll
almost go as far as to say, when you first, when
I meet any leader and I'm focused on the trust
area of all the four elements, coachability,
authenticity, integrity, vulnerability, I'm looking
for all of them. But what really pops first is
the person coachable, right? And you can tell
almost immediately if somebody is coachable or
not. You can ask them a silly question. Like,
hey, what restaurant do you like most? I went
there, I didn't like it. How do they respond?
The second most important thing, which is probably
as important as what you mentioned before, are
they a servant leader? As you get to know somebody,
do they have the intent and commitment to do
the right thing? We'll come back to the fact
that the value integrity is the only value of
10 that's listed twice. But really, are they
a servant leader? And then, you know, the interesting
part is you listen to them speak. as you get
to decide if you like somebody, you could decide,
I like both of them. One is share the stage.
So for a leader, when they speak, do they use
the names of their employees or other people?
Do they share cred dust? And do they show respect?
And to me, if I'm going to pick those just four,
four simple things, coachable, servant, leader,
they show respect and they share other people's
cred dust. Okay. Okay, that's, it's very good.
And that's, again, it's a lot of things that
I speak about. So what you're speaking about
is close and near and dear to my heart. Nice.
Again, well done. I saw that. I saw that when
I was looking at you and what you do and how
you show up. Okay, good. How does personal branding
play into first impressions during networking
events or introductions? Personal branding is
such a broad term, right? When we're talking
about introductions, are you talking about physical
introductions or online introductions? Physical.
Physical introductions. Okay, perfect. So here's
where it gets really interesting. You could almost
call it personal branding, but what I might actually
say is, are you showing respect? So let's focus
on the likability piece of it. So when you're
walking up to somebody, are you walking with
a frown? Are you walking with a smile? When you're
walking up to somebody, are you dressed appropriately?
And technically, what mom always told me, slightly
better than everyone else in the room. Not slightly
worse than everyone else in the room. And when
you are introduced by somebody else, are you
showing them the respect? Michael, if you came
to me and introduced me to somebody. You might
go, or if I was going to introduce you, I would
walk up, I'd bring you with me, I'd introduce
you to the person, and I'd say, hey, so -and
-so, you should meet Michael. Now, Michael, by
the way, this person is really good at ABC. And
then when I expressed you, I would say something
like, you know, what's really interesting, you
like me and the stuff I do? Well, if you like
me, you'll like Michael. Because Michael Forman
focuses on the same sort of things. He just has
a different approach to it. So why don't you
guys talk and let me know how it goes, right?
So notice my voice raised. When I share that,
because I wanted to show excitement. So showing
respect and paying cred dust are the things that
you can do most, assuming you have dressed the
part and just to be clear, you have to be 100
% present. Now, let me add one element to that.
You are never going to a network event to sell
you or a product. Ever. Period. Done. So if you've
done a good job, of getting somebody interested
in you and wanting to learn more. When they ask
you about your expertise and what they could
buy from you, your response should always be,
are you ready? Listen, I am so excited and I'd
want you to introduce, you to meet other people
here. As a matter of fact, I'm going to keep
you in mind as I go around and network with others,
but why don't we put time on the calendar? And
during that time, we will spend more energy focused
on your particular needs. But right now, you
and I are focused on meeting other people. Is
that okay with you? That would be the best way
when somebody says that to you. Does that make
sense? That makes perfect sense. Perfect sense.
And I want to go back to when I'm first meeting
the person. When you're introducing me, of course,
your body language speaks volumes. It's how you
keep yourself. When you say dress just a little
bit above. So if they're in just a shirt and
slacks, you should be wearing a blazer shirt
and slacks. If they're wearing a blazer shirt
and slacks, you wear a tie blazer shirt and slacks.
It's always one step above. But the body language,
it speaks volumes. When you shake somebody's
hand, right, it's not a dead fish. It's not a
dead fish. You shake it firmly. You look them
square in the eye. All of this tells. a story
in the few seconds you have when you're meeting
them. And they will react to it a lot more, a
lot better than if you didn't do everything.
Thank you for filling in the blank. Appreciate
that. Yes, agreed. 100%. Yeah, it's the same.
Okay. Can you share a moment when your credibility
opened a door that skills or experience alone
couldn't? Ooh, give me a, there's so many different
areas and different approaches. Can you fill
in that concept a little bit more in terms of
what you might be looking for? And it's a great
question. Usually your experience can open the
door for you. But I'm talking about a moment
that you're, they're not looking at your experience,
but they're looking at just. Your credibility.
In other words, they said, oh, that's Mitchell.
Oh, he's an author and he's this or X, Y, Z.
And that's the person who I'm being introduced
to because I don't know any of your experience.
I only know what is written about you or what
you've done. It's funny. I was at a. startup
event yesterday. And when somebody introduced
me, they said, yeah, Mitchell, he's actually
written a couple of books. And the person on
the other side was like, ooh. And then she goes,
how many did you write? And I go, 65. And she
goes, oh, it was really an interesting. I think
it's important where your presence is that level
of trust where people first get to see you. Agreed
with the right firm handshake, the look in the
eyes, the attentiveness, the presentness. And
then the question has to happen really quickly
in the mind of the person who you're meeting.
Is it worthwhile for me to spend time with this
person? Right. And so what I often will do, if
somebody doesn't know me, I might. say a couple
of things and it happens all the time, right?
It's if I need to know who they are first, so
I never will start with, I'm blah, blah, blah,
right? Like the stuff I shared before, I don't
really, I don't ever do that. What if I'm at
a startup event, I can assume, and if I could
see their name badge or a CEO of a startup, I'm
like, oh, tell me about your company. I'd love
to hear a little bit more. Now, what's really
interesting is one of the areas I have specific
expertise. is being able to help any company
or any individual articulate in less than 10
words where they're executing on their purpose.
And so when I went to this networking event,
I met with 10 CEOs. I wanted to get back involved
and feel comfortable about stuff other than I
had a badge. By the way, how that badge helped
me get immediate credibility. It said the word
investor on it. Of all the things I could have
put, that was the thing that was most interesting
to that audience. So to answer your question,
that's immediate credibility. Investor, ha, I
got to talk to this person. But when I'd ask
them who they were, in 10 out of 10 times, none
of them had clarity. Because what happens when
you're the CEO of a company or you're networking
an event, you're so excited about you, you want
to spew out all the important things about who
you are. So oftentimes I'd listen and depending
on who they are, if I felt like they were coachable,
I would say something like, I believe that there's
something that's so powerful that if you're able
to do this, people will listen to you more. Stop.
That's interesting. What would that be? If you
were able to articulate the playground you play
in less than 10 words. That would now allow people
to jump right in and get excited about you. It
would give you a compass of who you are and how
you show up. And they go, oh, cool. Now, depending
on how much time I had with them, I might actually
say, if you want, we could do it now. Because
I've already spent enough time with them. I know
they're open. They could do it. Or other times
I might go, you know what? I would love to do
this with you. I've done this now over a thousand
times. credibility point i've now done this over
a thousand times i can guarantee that i give
the annoying charge for this but i would love
to give this to you because i really like you
would you mind if we put time on the calendar
i'll send you i'll send you my calendar link
right so it's all the techniques that say i'm
a servant leader i want to be a value this is
something that's a value because i normally charge
for it and i want to help you be more successful
would you mind And those are going back to a
couple of your questions. At the end of the day,
it's what can you say that somebody says, oh,
this is worthwhile listening to this person.
And that's really what a credibility piece does,
whether it's a book or a TEDx or whenever you're
speaking at an event, you are by definition given
that incremental credibility, whether you deserve
it or not, because you're one of these speakers.
Would you say that's an exponential part of your
elevator pitch, your elevator speech? Because
the whole idea of the elevator speech is to get
the person's attention. It's what you're saying
is that you can get the person to articulate
what they do in 10 words. That's what that speech,
that beginning note. Because what I do is I tell
them, look, you should have your 30 second elevator
speech. That's what everybody professes. I don't
profess that. I say, yeah, I really don't. You
should be able to say what you have to say in
five seconds. Which is what I do. And then just
see. And hopefully, because the only thing you're
looking for is a response. And positive or negative,
you can really tell. But that's all you're looking
for. You're looking to draw him into the conversation
so that you can then further expand. So that's
my take on the elevator speech. I don't. profess
it. I don't teach it, but I have that few seconds.
I have my elevator pitch, okay? If I go to a
BLI or if I go to a chamber meeting or something,
I have to do that pitch. And then I - You do,
but I'm going to say, Michael, you do, but you
don't. But try it. Tell me, I'm curious, what
would be your pitch, your 30 -second pitch? I
help professionals network and communicate more
effectively and efficiently, thus creating more
profits. Got it. Okay. So I'm going to say, if
you don't mind, I'm going to take what you said,
but take it to a whole new level. All right.
Let me just ask a question first. Sure. Does
the elevator speech come from the head or the
heart? It should come from the heart. But does
the elevator speech come from the head or the
heart? The elevator speech as it is comes from
the head. So. How could somebody possibly get
to know and trust you if you're speaking from
your head? For anyone who's listening and watching,
I would encourage you, whatever you've learned
about the elevator speech, put it on a piece
of paper, crumple it up, burn it, and make sure
you throw it out. You should never, ever give
a 30 -second elevator pitch, period. That's why
I said I only use the first five seconds. It's
just enough to get the person's attention because
I feel that... An elevator speech, an elevator
pitch, it sounds very robotic, very practiced,
very like they don't care. They're just telling
you what it is because that's what they're taught
to do. And they're taught to do it from their
head instead of their heart. But that's me. That's
what I teach. And I think we teach the same thing,
but I think you're a little bit better than I
am. Let me tell you why. It's not better or worse.
That's irrelevant, right? It's if we're adding
value as servant leaders to others, not better
or worse, right? It's what I've recognized that
what I do, I'm going to give you a name for it.
It's called a CPOP, your customer point of possibilities.
What I do is I allow somebody in less than 10
words to articulate their CPOP. It's the playground
they play in. It's the compass they use for making
decisions of, hey, is this a good networking
event? Is this a good website? Is this a good
LinkedIn profile? It is the thing that what's
really cool about having a CPOP, Michael, if
you share the CPOP, what's really cool is the
person who's listening is one of three people.
They are either a referral partner. They are
either a prospect or they're either somebody
who doesn't give a shit. Now, it doesn't mean
they don't care about you as a human. It just
means they don't care about the playground you
play in. So if you share your CPOP, and I'll
share mine, and if you want, we can create yours.
If you share your CPOP with somebody, the most
natural thing, if they're one or two, if they're
a referral partner or prospect, is tell me more.
Now, what's interesting about a CPOP is people
are not used to hearing it. Because what I'm
going to encourage you to teach your people,
never say, I help, I serve. Because what happens
immediately is people go, ugh. Now, what you
could do instead, because they feel like you
might be selling. Oh, that's one of those. No
interest, right? What you could do instead is
do a hook up front. The hook is, there's a group
of clients I love working with. Or there's a
group, there's a set of professionals that really
benefit from what I do. But then pause. So for
me, the way I'd say it, I have two CPOPs. I'm
going to give the one that's appropriate for
your audience. There's a group of professionals
I add so much value to. Pause. Business owners
pursuing abundance with LinkedIn. Six words.
So Michael, the most natural thing there is,
Mitchell, what do you mean? Tell me more. So
now I'm going to say something in less than a
minute, but I'm going to say it off the top of
my head based on our previous conversation. I'm
not going to memorize, like every time I say
it, it's different because it's coming from my
heart. It's not coming from my head. Michael,
what I actually do, I've been part of LinkedIn
since before LinkedIn was making money. I was
paid. by reid hoffman and constantine gerlich
to actually write and publish linkedin's first
book so what i do is i help people use the 20
of functionality that would deliver 80 percent
of value just enough where if they're really
interested they might ah i'm interested tell
me more Here's what I would do next. I have seven
habits of highly effective LinkedIn networking.
Could we get time on the calendar? Or by the
way, I have an event next week. You could sign
up for it. It's complimentary. Or can we get
time on the calendar and we'll see if it's a
good fit for you, right? Now, let me tell you
what I'm really doing. And this is where we're
different because what you do is fascinating.
What I'm going to say is you help people with
CPOPing. You're giving them the ideas and thoughts
of how they can network more effectively. And
then they have a book and a learning course where
they could learn more. What I have figured out
is the CPOP to me, it's a formula. And I can
sit, like I said, any human, any company and
give them the formula. Here's what's interesting.
When I'm talking with somebody, they're going
to feel so good about it. They're going to go,
oh my God, that's me. Because we as humans, we
vibrate at a frequency. And if you are a servant
leader and you're living aligned with yourself,
I'm going to just give you the words that will
help you be in alignment. That's fantastic. I've
done this now over a thousand times. Here's what
happens. The world is full of chaos. And in 90
% of the times without incremental support, they
are going to forget their CPAP in two hours to
two weeks. It just... It's just the way it works.
So the world needs people like you and I that
will help people once they learn how to network
more effectively to stay in touch with how to
do it. Or once they learn, in my case, what I'm
doing with LinkedIn is I'm helping them play
in the playground they say they want to play
in. As opposed to the next nice shiny object
comes by and they try to do something else. Very
good. First of all, I'm so glad that this is
being recorded because there's no way I can write
down enough notes listening to. I was listening
so intently that I am going to play this video
back about 10 times so I get it right. With that
in mind, what advice would you give to someone
trying to align their personal brand with the
leadership roles that they aspire to? It's really
hard for me these days not to actually, and I'm
not trying to sell who I am. Oh, maybe I am.
It is important for you to be able to articulate
the playground you play in. And so the playground
is typically defined in this way by this formula.
And it's, I'll give you the secret formula. You
okay if I share that? Absolutely. So what you
want to be able to do in 1OT. One or two or worst
case, three words, who do you serve? In your
case, it's professionals, right? In my case,
either business owners or when I put on my executive
coaching hat, it's Inc. 5 ,000 CEOs, different
audience, different CPOP. So who do you serve?
Now, if you're interested in, if you're in corporate
and you're at a company today, hopefully you
had a company you love being at. If you're not.
If you don't love who you are and what you do
at that company, it's time to move companies,
right? And so who do you serve? And then from
the perspective of who you serve as a servant
leader, what is the pain point or pleasure point?
80 % of the time, it's a pain point focused thing.
In 20 % of the time, it's okay to do the pleasure
point. For instance, when I talk to CEOs, their
egos are so big, I have to actually give the
pleasure point one. And so what's interesting
as I was thinking about you and to answer your
question, it's important to be able to know the
playground you're playing in and then share it
at the right time with people when they ask you
who you are. But it gives you this compass. When
you have a compass, now what happens when opportunities
come your way, you know what to yes, what to
no. You know what's a maybe. It's so clear of
the audience you serve and how you serve them
that you should feel comfortable going above
and beyond. That's what gets you the job. If
you know how to play in your playground, I sat
on the board of a public firm. The people that
I wanted on the executive staff with the CEO.
were people who knew how to play in their functional
roles. Because they weren't going to get direction
from the CEO, at least they shouldn't. They should
be telling the CEO what they need so they can
accomplish the goals they were set out to do.
And that's really so they knew how to play in
the playground that they set up for themselves.
I like that. I like that a lot. Here's a question
for you. What are some common mistakes professionals
make that hurt their credibility while networking?
The most obvious, the easiest one is the one
you've heard many times. You have one mouth and
two ears. Yeah. And you're not using them in
the right proportions. That's right. The most
important thing you can do when you're networking
is ask a good question that encourages the other
person to talk. Now, what's the most important
thing to do next? Listen. Okay, don't listen
with the intent of when you could interrupt them,
bad. And when you could say who you are, also
bad. Just listen, add value, right? The most
important thing, if somebody walks away liking
you and trusting you because they spoke for 10
minutes and you spoke for a minute or 30 seconds.
That just gives you the, oh, by the way, if somebody
knew that each person should speak for five minutes
and somebody took nine, that's probably not somebody
you want to play with anyhow. But if you really
focused on the other person, so that's the biggest
mistake is not listening, talking too much, trying
to highlight you in a networking event. If you're
a servant leader, if you're really echoing concepts
of credibility, you are there to be of service
to somebody else. You are coachable. If they
say something that changes who you are, you go,
And kind of what you're doing today is, oh, that's
really interesting. I'm going to listen to this
a couple of times because I can't take notes
fast enough. You're also spreading my cred dust.
You're doing the types of things not because
you're following a blueprint. You're doing it
because you're a coachable, credible, vulnerable
person who authentically wants to do better by
their clients. So you have the intent and commitment
to do the right thing. And as a result of being
that person, you're just allowing yourself to
be you. And you're doing it while you're recording
on a podcast where people are many times very
nervous, but you're just showing up as you. And
if anyone is paying attention, I like this Michael
guy. I mean, this was a good episode. I want
Michael to help me. And that's what comes out
when you listen to and watch something like this.
Yep. I firmly believe having the servant's heart
when you go networking is paramount. As you're
listening to that person and letting them speak,
and I use something called form before I talk
with them. It's family, occupation, recreation,
and a message, right? So I have that. in my head
before I go and speak to them because I can speak
to them about any of the above. But as they're
speaking, and after they finished, you pause,
very important, that pause, because you don't
want to say the next thing that you wanted to
say, but you're going to respond to what he said,
he or she said. And you say, you know something,
I like you. I like the way you do business. How
can I make you more successful? How can I be
a good referral source for you? And I usually
blows him away. He said, I don't even know what
you do yet because I haven't said anything yet,
but he talked or she talked for five minutes.
And that's the whole process. So I strongly believe
that. Hopefully you use a little bit of that
yourself. Remind me, what was the R? I got the
FOM, but I didn't get the R. Recreation. Recreation.
Cool. Okay. Yeah, because, you know, when you're
going and you're sitting at somebody's desk,
okay, and you're meeting this person for the
first time, you have about 30 seconds to look
around his office and see what he's got on the
walls, on his desk, and everything he has. And
one thing, here's a little trick for you. He's
got pictures of his family on his desk. All right?
positioned? Are they just to him so that only
he can see him? Or are they facing outward for
you to see? And if they're facing outward, then
he's that much more proud of his family. And
he wants you to say something about his family,
his children, his whatever. And that's a great
way to start your conversation. Cool. I love
that. Yeah. Great suggestion. Yeah. Little tidbits,
little tidbits. Okay, how can emerging leaders
use networking to strengthen both their influence
and their personal brand? If you're networking
as an emerging leader at a networking event where
there aren't other people at your company, You
want to do exactly what you suggested. You want
to get to know people where you can add value
to them so they recognize who you are. You want
to be able to, if you are writing something that
you think would be relevant for them, you go,
you know what? I'm spending a lot of time in
this area. Do you mind if I send you an article
I'm writing sometime next week when I'm done
writing it? Or... How about when I'm doing my
podcast, every now and then I'm going to interview
somebody who's a good fit. Do you mind if I send
you that? Or maybe even send you a real, real
snippet from that might be of value. Those are
things that you do with people outside your company.
If you're networking inside your company, which
you absolutely should, what you're doing is you're
actively looking for people who could be. mentors
of you or mentor you in some way at some point
in time right and so what you're looking for
is you're looking for if you're thinking about
the form that you just mentioned if you're looking
for things that are valuable that they first
can relate to you because you've recognized it
and then second you go every now and then i've
got this interesting question And actually, I'm
not even sure I'd ever, no, I wouldn't do it.
I was going to say something and then I'm like,
nope, too formal, too quick. All you want to
do is be of service and be recognized when you
first meet somebody. And at some point in time,
if you think they could be a mentor to you, you
want to build the relationship over time inside
the company. You don't want to ever ask when
you first meet somebody. It's a little bit too
needy and it's not the right thing to do, but
you want to be of service. So if they have an
admin, you could ask the question of the admin,
hey, what could I do that would be of value to
your boss? It's the same things you're doing,
but if you're doing it for a company, you just
have to follow a little bit different set of
rules inside your company than you do outside
the company. Very good. Very good. And going
to the secretary or assistant, asking them the
best way to get to that person, that's gold.
Because first of all, I've done that for years,
for 100 years. That, to me, is sales 101. But
it's all these items, all these things. are forgotten
all of these things people don't do anymore but
i don't want to get into that because i can sit
here for an hour and talk about that what role
does consistency in behavior and i'm sorry in
behavior message and image play in long -term
networking success so i did promise that i would
tell you why The value of integrity was listed
twice. So during the interviews, what came out
were 10 values of credibility. And when I first
created the 10 values, I couldn't tell you why
integrity was there twice. It took a year before
I really figured it out. And it took about four
and a half years before I could make the statement
that I'm going to make a little bit later. What's
interesting is about a year after putting this
out there, what I realized is that the difference
between the integrity that's associated with
trust, that's your external integrity. That's
who you say you are. But if somebody gets to
know you, know the real you, the integrity there
is your internal integrity, who you really are,
who you really act as. And I want to make this
fun statement I learned about six months ago.
And as you ever go to a networking event and
you're meeting somebody and then the hair in
the back of your neck stands up, you've got this
spidey sense there's something wrong. Yeah. I
want to put words on that. It's simply they're
saying one thing. Their external integrity is
saying one thing, but you know that they don't
mean that when you look at their internal integrity.
When there's incongruency between external and
internal integrity, that's when your spidey sense
pops up. So the word consistency. And I'll also
add another C word, a couple of C words I like.
I love curious, but also the consistency, the
C word commitment. When you're consistent and
have commitment to focus on doing the right things
by those that you serve, you over time are making
sure there's alignment between your external
and internal integrity. If you don't have that
alignment, that's an immediate, when an executive
comes to me or is imposed on me, the first thing
I have to see is, hey, are they coachable? They're
not coachable, I'll say no immediately. But then
within the first conversation or two, I'm going
to learn whether or not there's incongruency
between the external and internal integrity.
Depending on how bad that is, it's either coachable
if they're coachable or not. And I'll make those
decisions right then. And it's really important
to and it's hard sometimes. It's sometimes easy
to do things that other people are doing, even
though it's inconsistent with your values. But
you've got to own who you are and you've got
to show up in a credible way that people see
you in a way that they're comfortable. Yes, very
much. That's good. And I like that with the spidey
senses, because I think everybody who has networked
as much as we have, you walk into a room and
you start talking with somebody and they start
talking and immediately that starts to flare
up. You're like, no, I'm going to make this as
short as possible and just move on to the next
person. Because I've gotten really to the point
where I don't want to deal with that anymore.
If you're just starting out, if you're a sales
professional, you really do business with just
about anybody that's going to buy your services.
And I'm really at a point where I'm like, no,
I remember I had a graphic design studio about
20 years ago, and I was taught a lesson from
my mentor at the time. He said, look, Michael,
you have to fire your client. It was just, I
was like, but you can't do that. He's paying
me a lot of money. Yeah, but your health is worth
a lot more than that. You have to be happy at
what you do and fire the client. And I did, and
my profit margin went down, but I felt a lot
better. So there was something to learn about
that. Okay, how can someone with limited experience
still build credibility and lead within? It's
a very open -ended question, so let me add a
little bit of context around that. There are
different forms of leadership, right? One of
the best form of leadership that is very easy
for anyone to do, regardless of title, is...
The leadership of taking notes and summarizing
notes and forward and following through. Essentially,
good project management. So at any point in time
when a group of disparate people come together,
being the person who will volunteer to take notes
and distribute the notes and then recap the notes
at the next meeting, that's the leader. Whether
or not they have the title or not. And so it's...
If you have very limited experience, being that
person and saying, listen, I have limited experience
in this field, but what I can do really well
is listen and take notes. Do you mind if I do
that? And if you're showing your vulnerability,
if you're showing that you authentically care,
you have the intent and commitment to do the
right thing, sometimes that leadership will actually
be rewarded with true leadership who should run
the project. Like I take into notes. So that
to me is an approach I would suggest that people
take. And let's bring this podcast full circle.
And if someone wants to be remembered after a
single conversation, what should they focus on
projecting? Servant leadership. You are there
to add. value to the person you're with and,
if possible, to be able to add value? That's
always my answer. That's always my answer. And
I'm so glad that you said the very same thing.
Mitchell, I can't begin to tell you how much
I enjoyed this podcast. I can probably go on
speaking with you for another two hours without
even thinking about the time. But if somebody
wanted to hire you or ask you a question or ask
anything about you, how would they find you?
You know, the best way, and this is something
that many people make mistakes at, they'll start
echoing off tons of ideas of how to reach somebody.
So I'm going to give you one. It's my website.
go to MitchellLevy .com, that's three L's, M
-I -T -C -H -E -L -L -E -V -Y .com. And from
there, you could see the types of programs I
have, the things that I do. You could participate
in either paid for or some complimentary resources.
You could even book time on my calendar. So that's
at MitchellLevy .com. That's fantastic. And again,
I enjoyed this so much and I look forward to
talking to you again. Michael. Me as well. Thank
you. I really appreciate it. Well, hold on, folks.
Don't go anywhere. Let me just read a few of
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-U -P -K -I -D -S .org. Well, that's a wrap,
folks. A huge thank you to our special guests
for sharing such incredible insights today. And
of course, a big shout out to you, our amazing
listeners, for tuning in and spending your time
with us. Remember, networking isn't about being
perfect. It's about being present. So take what
you've learned today, get out there, and make
some meaningful connections. If you enjoyed this
episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave us
a review, and share it with someone who could
use a little networking inspiration. Let's keep
the conversation going. You can find me on Apple,
Spotify, YouTube, or my website, Michael. Remember,
Until next time, keep practicing, keep connecting,
and keep building those relationships. This is
Michael signing off. Take care and happy networking.