WEBVTT 00:00:14.730 --> 00:00:18.390 Welcome to Networking Unleashed, Building Profitable 00:00:18.390 --> 00:00:21.750 Connections, the show where relationships become 00:00:21.750 --> 00:00:24.589 results and connections turn into opportunities. 00:00:25.149 --> 00:00:28.309 I'm your host, Michael Foreman, and today we're 00:00:28.309 --> 00:00:30.870 exploring the future of networking through the 00:00:30.870 --> 00:00:34.490 lens of education, entrepreneurship, and technology. 00:00:34.950 --> 00:00:39.810 My guest is at the forefront of Anabasis Academy's 00:00:39.810 --> 00:00:42.920 innovative approach to learning. blending leadership 00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:46.380 development with AI -driven tools to prepare 00:00:46.380 --> 00:00:49.759 the next generation of entrepreneurs. We'll dive 00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:52.320 into how emerging leaders can build meaningful 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:55.420 networks, leverage technology without losing 00:00:55.420 --> 00:00:59.340 the human touch, and use relationships as the 00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:02.539 key driver for professional and personal growth. 00:01:03.209 --> 00:01:05.709 Whether a student, entrepreneur, or seasoned 00:01:05.709 --> 00:01:08.670 professional, this conversation will give you 00:01:08.670 --> 00:01:11.909 strategies to connect smarter, lead better, and 00:01:11.909 --> 00:01:15.189 grow faster. I'd like to welcome to the podcast, 00:01:15.530 --> 00:01:19.170 Sid. We had a little problem connecting, but 00:01:19.170 --> 00:01:22.150 we're all here now. And I'm welcoming you to 00:01:22.150 --> 00:01:24.609 the podcast. And would you please just give us 00:01:24.609 --> 00:01:26.900 a little bit about your background? Of course, 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:29.099 it's great to be with you and your audience, 00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:32.420 Michael. And sometimes a little bit of a connection 00:01:32.420 --> 00:01:37.310 problem gives us more anticipation. So I'm happy 00:01:37.310 --> 00:01:39.769 to be here. In terms of background, I'll be pretty 00:01:39.769 --> 00:01:42.870 short because what I always believe is not me 00:01:42.870 --> 00:01:45.170 that counts, it's the audience and it's you. 00:01:45.870 --> 00:01:49.890 I'm an immigrant by background. I came to the 00:01:49.890 --> 00:01:53.349 States when I was 16, educated here in college, 00:01:53.549 --> 00:01:55.950 started my first company when I was in college. 00:01:56.329 --> 00:02:00.329 And then at some period of time, I was a partner 00:02:00.329 --> 00:02:03.269 of a consulting firm. I worked with very large 00:02:03.269 --> 00:02:05.769 organizations. Then I started my own firm and 00:02:05.769 --> 00:02:07.790 did turnarounds. We bought companies and sold 00:02:07.790 --> 00:02:10.969 them. Then started the other companies, mostly 00:02:10.969 --> 00:02:14.590 in technology. Bought four or five of them. A 00:02:14.590 --> 00:02:18.009 few worked and we sold the companies and a couple 00:02:18.009 --> 00:02:21.069 didn't work. And we learned a lot. And in the 00:02:21.069 --> 00:02:23.830 past 20 years, and you can see that I'm an old 00:02:23.830 --> 00:02:28.030 guy, I've been teaching at universities, both 00:02:28.030 --> 00:02:31.430 in engineering and business schools, and have 00:02:31.430 --> 00:02:34.210 been making investments in early stage companies. 00:02:34.270 --> 00:02:36.169 I was the president of Tech Coast Angels, which 00:02:36.169 --> 00:02:38.710 is the largest angel investment entity, had a 00:02:38.710 --> 00:02:41.770 venture fund, then sold the company and full 00:02:41.770 --> 00:02:45.069 circle to consulting as the strategic innovation 00:02:45.069 --> 00:02:48.530 leader for a very large advisory at 26. billion 00:02:48.530 --> 00:02:52.949 dollar advisory company. And now I do three or 00:02:52.949 --> 00:02:56.250 four things. One is I'm still teaching. Another 00:02:56.250 --> 00:02:58.789 is that I have a few books and I write a lot. 00:02:58.889 --> 00:03:01.370 If you search me, hundreds of articles. I'm old, 00:03:01.409 --> 00:03:05.090 so I'm very opinionated. I still serve on boards, 00:03:05.349 --> 00:03:08.310 corporate boards and make investments. And our 00:03:08.310 --> 00:03:12.650 latest venture is Anabasis Academy that you referred 00:03:12.650 --> 00:03:16.389 to, which is a fusing, a combination of mindfulness, 00:03:16.689 --> 00:03:20.099 awareness. and entrepreneurship because everything 00:03:20.099 --> 00:03:23.759 begins in your mind and we're all unique so we 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:26.400 have to find that authentic way of of making 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:31.460 progress so that's me outstanding outstanding 00:03:31.460 --> 00:03:33.639 and i'm sure you could have gone on for another 00:03:33.639 --> 00:03:36.479 half an hour just tell me about your background 00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:40.259 because it is so vast but okay so let's jump 00:03:40.259 --> 00:03:44.460 right into the questions how does the new approach 00:03:44.460 --> 00:03:47.889 at Anabasis? Am I saying that correctly? Yeah, 00:03:47.949 --> 00:03:51.849 Anabasis. Anabasis, by the way, Ana is a Latin 00:03:51.849 --> 00:03:56.509 word meaning moving up, move up. And basis is 00:03:56.509 --> 00:03:59.789 obviously the base. So Anabasis is moving the 00:03:59.789 --> 00:04:03.430 base up. Okay. See, I learn something new every 00:04:03.430 --> 00:04:07.629 day. How does the new approach at Anabasis Academy 00:04:07.629 --> 00:04:10.849 prepare students to build meaningful professional 00:04:10.849 --> 00:04:17.480 networks from an early stage? First, I've got 00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:20.480 to explain how the world works now because it's 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:23.259 important. Before I can say, hey, this is how 00:04:23.259 --> 00:04:26.660 it's different. In terms of education, whether 00:04:26.660 --> 00:04:31.819 it's students at colleges or folks that are going 00:04:31.819 --> 00:04:33.879 through management training, leadership training, 00:04:34.060 --> 00:04:37.819 or even motivational stuff, everything that you 00:04:37.819 --> 00:04:41.879 could see out there. based on a lot of how -tos. 00:04:41.980 --> 00:04:43.899 That's, I'm going to give you a skill, and I'm 00:04:43.899 --> 00:04:45.439 going to give you four things, and then you're 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:47.519 going to follow these four things, and you're 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:51.000 going to get to nirvana, okay? So if you go at 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:53.220 school, when we go to school, they give us a 00:04:53.220 --> 00:04:56.500 lot of stuff to memorize, and then repeat those 00:04:56.500 --> 00:04:59.839 in circular formats whenever we face those situations. 00:04:59.860 --> 00:05:03.259 Do these five things, and it's going to work. 00:05:04.139 --> 00:05:07.339 What that does, it's very good at increasing 00:05:07.339 --> 00:05:10.779 productivity. Because I'm getting you to do the 00:05:10.779 --> 00:05:14.480 same thing over and over. But it's not necessarily 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:19.379 relevant or conducive to innovation and creativity. 00:05:19.980 --> 00:05:23.800 Now, we are in a world, if you look at the AI 00:05:23.800 --> 00:05:26.019 stuff that's happening, look at everything around 00:05:26.019 --> 00:05:31.339 us, that we're at a transition point. We're at 00:05:31.339 --> 00:05:34.560 a transition point. And our evolution as human 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:38.300 beings is moving towards... creativity and innovation, 00:05:38.579 --> 00:05:42.920 as opposed to tasks. The tasks, even the programming 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:45.980 stuff AI is doing. So the tasks can be done by 00:05:45.980 --> 00:05:48.339 somebody else. You don't need a how to follow 00:05:48.339 --> 00:05:52.160 these seven steps and do this. And by the way, 00:05:52.180 --> 00:05:56.339 they say practical advice to do A, B, or C, or 00:05:56.339 --> 00:05:59.199 become a trillionaire. Those practical advice 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:03.120 are practical for who? Because you and I are 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:05.600 different. I'm an introvert, you're an extrovert. 00:06:05.699 --> 00:06:08.160 I grew up in this place, you grew up in that 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:10.300 place. You went to the military, I never did. 00:06:10.839 --> 00:06:12.720 There's so many different, there are 8 billion 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:15.120 people on our planet, no two people are the same. 00:06:15.699 --> 00:06:19.279 So what does that mean to be practical? It just 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:23.220 doesn't make any sense. So the idea is, yes, 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:25.639 it's good to learn from others. There's a thousand 00:06:25.639 --> 00:06:28.480 books out there, a hundred thousand maybe on 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:32.180 leadership. No two leaders are the same. No two 00:06:32.180 --> 00:06:34.779 situations to apply your leadership is the same. 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:39.040 So it's how do you look at these skills and become 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:43.240 skillful, which is different. It's how do I use 00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:49.180 my entirety to be able to do that. Now, so Animations 00:06:49.180 --> 00:06:52.740 Academy is about provoking you. It's not about, 00:06:52.899 --> 00:06:55.879 it doesn't think that your mind is like a vase 00:06:55.879 --> 00:06:59.300 or another container. We don't want to put more 00:06:59.300 --> 00:07:02.939 water in your mind, if you would. We want to 00:07:02.939 --> 00:07:06.519 be able to ignite a fire because the belief is 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:10.180 you have all capabilities in terms of building. 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:13.160 We're all built to create better, Michael. We're 00:07:13.160 --> 00:07:15.839 all built. It's in our DNA. We're not just here 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:18.779 to survive. We're here to be better. We all want 00:07:18.779 --> 00:07:22.759 to do that. The trick is to provoke folks and 00:07:22.759 --> 00:07:26.689 engage folks. To be able to activate the part, 00:07:26.790 --> 00:07:29.790 which is about being aware of your decisions, 00:07:30.009 --> 00:07:32.189 being aware of the surroundings, being aware. 00:07:32.730 --> 00:07:35.529 Because if you're aware, you make better decisions. 00:07:36.910 --> 00:07:41.290 Absolutely correct. That goes hand in hand, of 00:07:41.290 --> 00:07:44.250 course, with the networking, which I'm all about. 00:07:44.470 --> 00:07:48.089 You have to be aware of your opportunities, have 00:07:48.089 --> 00:07:50.769 to be aware of the people. As long as you're 00:07:50.769 --> 00:07:53.730 aware, you can talk with anybody, speak with 00:07:53.730 --> 00:07:57.939 anybody. Correct. So this is a very good segment 00:07:57.939 --> 00:08:01.180 or way to connect it to what your focus is, which 00:08:01.180 --> 00:08:04.540 is the networking. A lot of people want to network 00:08:04.540 --> 00:08:08.579 to sell something. I have this. I want to give 00:08:08.579 --> 00:08:11.339 it to you. But let's think this for a minute. 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:14.319 Let's think about this for a minute. Do you really 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:19.939 sell or do people buy? People love to buy, but 00:08:19.939 --> 00:08:23.279 they hate to be sold to. Yeah, they love to buy 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:26.399 based on their own decisions. So who makes the 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:30.139 decision at the end? Not you as a salesman, not 00:08:30.139 --> 00:08:33.399 you as a founder, not you as... They make the 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:38.519 decision. They, for their own reasons. In a networking 00:08:38.519 --> 00:08:40.799 environment, I'm not there to sell. I'm there 00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:44.980 to understand the reasons why they would buy, 00:08:45.139 --> 00:08:48.980 why they would engage. Why is it that how can 00:08:48.980 --> 00:08:52.269 I satisfy... What they're looking for. How can 00:08:52.269 --> 00:08:54.850 I provide the value? Because I don't have that 00:08:54.850 --> 00:08:58.549 decision. They have that decision. Now, it's 00:08:58.549 --> 00:09:01.929 the same thing about your employees. You know, 00:09:01.950 --> 00:09:05.049 we think networking is about outside. Networking 00:09:05.049 --> 00:09:08.610 is creating a network that produces a better 00:09:08.610 --> 00:09:13.029 result than an individual. A network is an ecosystem 00:09:13.029 --> 00:09:18.289 that creates collectively a better outcome. So 00:09:18.289 --> 00:09:22.820 if you apply the same idea, Hey, my employees, 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:26.919 they decide if they give me productivity or not. 00:09:26.980 --> 00:09:29.120 I don't decide how much productivity they give 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:32.320 me. I don't decide at 8 o 'clock at night or 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:34.720 10 o 'clock at night or 4 o 'clock in the afternoon. 00:09:34.820 --> 00:09:36.720 They're really thinking about doing something 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:39.399 innovative or doing something better. They decide. 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:45.240 So if I realize that, then I have created a network 00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:51.159 that is based on reasons. That drive decisions. 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:54.320 The same applies to your investors. The same 00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:57.580 applies to your partners in business and actually 00:09:57.580 --> 00:09:59.960 to the community that you thrive in. Does that 00:09:59.960 --> 00:10:02.259 make sense? It makes perfect sense. It makes 00:10:02.259 --> 00:10:05.500 perfect sense. Depending on who you are, it depends 00:10:05.500 --> 00:10:08.740 on what angle you're looking at it from. It's 00:10:08.740 --> 00:10:11.019 all the same problem. It's all the same outcome. 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:13.720 You're just looking at it from a different way. 00:10:13.820 --> 00:10:16.379 Absolutely. And that's fantastic. I never thought 00:10:16.379 --> 00:10:18.779 about it that way. Let me go on. People, people, 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:21.620 usually this is the thing. If you really listen 00:10:21.620 --> 00:10:23.700 to what I've been talking about and writing stuff, 00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:26.720 this is really not rocket science. No, it's not. 00:10:27.159 --> 00:10:31.320 Life is not rocket science. We make it all this 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:35.139 rigmarole in order to have these 17 layers and 00:10:35.139 --> 00:10:38.259 then charge people to do this. We make it this 00:10:38.259 --> 00:10:40.240 complicated thing. It's actually pretty simple. 00:10:40.620 --> 00:10:45.289 No, I coach. I coach many people. And I go and 00:10:45.289 --> 00:10:47.809 I speak on different stages in different companies. 00:10:48.110 --> 00:10:51.129 And I tell them all, it's not rocket science. 00:10:51.529 --> 00:10:55.809 It's all common sense. And really, the 20 -somethings, 00:10:55.809 --> 00:10:58.269 the 30 -somethings, they've never heard this 00:10:58.269 --> 00:11:00.990 before. They haven't been taught this. But the 00:11:00.990 --> 00:11:04.250 older people, the older, the 40s, 50s, or even 00:11:04.250 --> 00:11:06.490 60s, they say, oh, yeah, I've heard of that. 00:11:06.570 --> 00:11:09.389 I don't do it, but I've heard of it. But it's 00:11:09.389 --> 00:11:13.960 all common sense. Okay. So. What role does networking 00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:17.220 play in entrepreneurship and how can aspiring 00:11:17.220 --> 00:11:23.340 founders leverage it effectively? So I talk about 00:11:23.340 --> 00:11:26.139 a few things. An entrepreneur, first of all, 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:28.200 we have to build our own entrepreneurial philosophy, 00:11:28.580 --> 00:11:31.820 each one of us. And by the way, entrepreneurship 00:11:31.820 --> 00:11:34.799 by actual definition, I'm not making this up. 00:11:34.899 --> 00:11:39.659 This word was defined in the 1700s. That is over 00:11:39.659 --> 00:11:43.419 300 years ago. An entrepreneur is someone who 00:11:43.419 --> 00:11:48.059 has something, who wishes to exchange it with 00:11:48.059 --> 00:11:50.559 something of higher value, knowing that there 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:54.080 is risk. That means you have something. This 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:56.700 could be your idea. It could be your talents. 00:11:56.980 --> 00:12:00.019 It could be you're a basketball player or you're 00:12:00.019 --> 00:12:02.539 a good musician or you have a product that you 00:12:02.539 --> 00:12:05.840 build. You have something. And you want to exchange 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:10.200 it with something of higher value. you have this 00:12:10.200 --> 00:12:13.259 you want to give it to somebody else knowing 00:12:13.259 --> 00:12:15.840 that there is risk you may have this you may 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:18.620 not necessarily get what you want to get okay 00:12:18.620 --> 00:12:22.659 so we with that definition we all have this entrepreneurial 00:12:22.659 --> 00:12:25.039 ability regardless of where you are the seven 00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:27.279 seven year old child that you have who wants 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:30.139 to get an ice cream they're experiencing their 00:12:30.139 --> 00:12:33.990 entrepreneurship okay The mother who goes out 00:12:33.990 --> 00:12:37.669 and works all day and makes $12 an hour and brings 00:12:37.669 --> 00:12:40.669 that to their kid to go to Disneyland on vacation. 00:12:40.769 --> 00:12:44.409 And Elon Musk is experiencing the entrepreneur. 00:12:44.669 --> 00:12:48.129 So let's take that as a no. The question is, 00:12:48.190 --> 00:12:50.169 how can you experience that entrepreneur? How 00:12:50.169 --> 00:12:53.509 can you practice it? You can define what you 00:12:53.509 --> 00:12:56.570 have. You can define what is of higher value 00:12:56.570 --> 00:12:58.909 to you. But from here to there, there's risk. 00:12:59.389 --> 00:13:01.710 From here to there. So how do you accomplish 00:13:01.710 --> 00:13:05.549 this? You cannot accomplish this without an ecosystem. 00:13:06.070 --> 00:13:11.409 Period. Because people buy stuff from you. People 00:13:11.409 --> 00:13:14.909 work for you. People give you money and investment. 00:13:15.350 --> 00:13:18.149 People partner with you. And you live within 00:13:18.149 --> 00:13:20.169 a society. These are the five pillars of the 00:13:20.169 --> 00:13:23.330 way. Without these five, you're not practicing 00:13:23.330 --> 00:13:27.009 entrepreneurship as it's defined in any way possible. 00:13:27.250 --> 00:13:32.399 Whether it's at home. Or in a business. So an 00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:36.639 ecosystem, a network is a must -have. Okay? A 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:39.039 network is an ecosystem. That's good. I'm going 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:41.940 to steal that from you, if you don't mind. No 00:13:41.940 --> 00:13:45.039 problem. Okay. Let's switch it to AI a little 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:49.639 bit. AI is reshaping industries. How can professionals 00:13:49.639 --> 00:13:54.460 use AI to enhance, not replace, genuine relationship 00:13:54.460 --> 00:14:01.179 building? This is a very, it's a very obviously 00:14:01.179 --> 00:14:04.740 topical question of the day because everywhere, 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:09.600 yes, there are numerous studies that says that 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:12.220 by 2030, we're going to lose in the world somewhere 00:14:12.220 --> 00:14:17.419 around 800 ,000 or 500 ,000 jobs that are completely 00:14:17.419 --> 00:14:19.559 going to be gone. And if you think about it, 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:23.860 that's about one, about a few percentage point 00:14:23.860 --> 00:14:27.240 of the total jobs available. So it is a challenge. 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:32.639 Now, most of the things that are out there, there's 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:36.379 a lot of noise out there. Everybody there tries 00:14:36.379 --> 00:14:39.879 to, oh, let's do an LLM and a JTPT or whatever. 00:14:40.120 --> 00:14:45.059 And mostly are focused on productivity. Mostly 00:14:45.059 --> 00:14:48.419 are focused on productivity. Meaning, here's 00:14:48.419 --> 00:14:51.440 what I'm doing. Let me do this faster. But remember, 00:14:51.620 --> 00:14:56.179 if you do things faster, let's say. Just as an 00:14:56.179 --> 00:14:58.299 example, let's say we have a production system. 00:14:58.539 --> 00:15:01.700 We make these cups and we make 10 of them an 00:15:01.700 --> 00:15:05.779 hour. But out of 10, one is faulty. It's broken. 00:15:06.279 --> 00:15:09.519 Now, if I just do this faster, I would do 100 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:15.340 an hour, but I will have more errors. Productivity 00:15:15.340 --> 00:15:18.539 in terms of replicating what you're doing doesn't 00:15:18.539 --> 00:15:22.019 necessarily mean that you got better. Now, there's 00:15:22.019 --> 00:15:25.370 multiple tools now if you want to look at. capturing 00:15:25.370 --> 00:15:27.909 people to come into your network if you call 00:15:27.909 --> 00:15:32.529 it emailing stuff or but if the content if the 00:15:32.529 --> 00:15:34.950 way you communicate you don't meet the reasons 00:15:34.950 --> 00:15:39.210 it doesn't matter how fast you do it it really 00:15:39.210 --> 00:15:42.090 doesn't matter how fast you do it so it depends 00:15:42.090 --> 00:15:45.210 on how well you do it correct how so if you're 00:15:45.210 --> 00:15:50.889 doing it well you could use tools to do it well 00:15:51.879 --> 00:15:54.779 If you're not doing it well, just getting somebody 00:15:54.779 --> 00:15:56.899 else's practical one, two, three doesn't make 00:15:56.899 --> 00:15:59.919 you. Like goes back to the old saying of garbage 00:15:59.919 --> 00:16:03.340 in, garbage out. Yeah. So you put garbage in 00:16:03.340 --> 00:16:06.240 and you want to make it go faster. That's great. 00:16:06.340 --> 00:16:09.360 But garbage out. Correct. But here's the thing. 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:11.779 Here's the thing, Michael. This is the interesting 00:16:11.779 --> 00:16:15.320 part. We have so much noise and people trying 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:19.649 to sell things to people out there. So much noise 00:16:19.649 --> 00:16:22.730 of how to do... You get my point about I'm against 00:16:22.730 --> 00:16:25.129 this how -to business. Everybody's trying to 00:16:25.129 --> 00:16:27.309 how -to this, how -to that and charge people 00:16:27.309 --> 00:16:29.450 for doing the how -to this or how -to that. If 00:16:29.450 --> 00:16:33.049 somebody else is doing it and you just copy it, 00:16:33.090 --> 00:16:35.389 it's not authentic. It's not you. And people 00:16:35.389 --> 00:16:39.750 will see through that. Yes, they will. Because 00:16:39.750 --> 00:16:42.730 you're not being authentic. You're not being... 00:16:42.730 --> 00:16:45.830 You're somebody else trying to be doing this. 00:16:46.679 --> 00:16:49.519 Hey, a copy of a copy is just not as good as 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:52.960 the genuine thing. No, it's not. Okay, let me 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:57.000 go on. From your perspective, what leadership 00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:00.519 qualities make someone naturally magnetic in 00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:06.920 networking situations? Listening. Very good. 00:17:07.019 --> 00:17:11.529 Very important. Active listening. Go ahead. Listening. 00:17:11.650 --> 00:17:15.029 Listening to learn. Not listening to empathize. 00:17:15.069 --> 00:17:19.490 I want to emphasize that. Because there is a 00:17:19.490 --> 00:17:22.750 lot of hoopla. Oh, you listen to empathize with 00:17:22.750 --> 00:17:26.450 people. No, I listen to learn. So I improve my 00:17:26.450 --> 00:17:29.910 own decisions. This is a very selfish act. I'm 00:17:29.910 --> 00:17:32.910 not listening to respect others. It does do that. 00:17:33.109 --> 00:17:37.299 But it's a side effect of things. I am listening 00:17:37.299 --> 00:17:40.700 because they have their own reasons. And if I 00:17:40.700 --> 00:17:43.759 know their reason, I can be a better sales guy. 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:46.420 I can deliver better value. I'm listening because 00:17:46.420 --> 00:17:49.500 they are giving me information that makes my 00:17:49.500 --> 00:17:53.420 life better. I can make decisions better. I'm 00:17:53.420 --> 00:17:56.440 not listening to reply. I'm not listening to 00:17:56.440 --> 00:18:02.099 empathize. I'm listening to learn. You're a problem 00:18:02.099 --> 00:18:06.009 solver. OK, so if someone has a problem, you 00:18:06.009 --> 00:18:09.009 have the solution. You're getting to that. But 00:18:09.009 --> 00:18:11.589 you can't get to that unless you first find out 00:18:11.589 --> 00:18:15.109 what the problem is. So by active listening, 00:18:15.369 --> 00:18:17.789 you're listening to them. And of course, when 00:18:17.789 --> 00:18:21.309 you respond, sort of what they said to you so 00:18:21.309 --> 00:18:23.829 that they know that you were listening to them. 00:18:24.490 --> 00:18:29.160 It's a whole big thing, but it works. OK. How 00:18:29.160 --> 00:18:32.680 can young professionals or students strategically 00:18:32.680 --> 00:18:36.579 network to open doors in entrepreneurship and 00:18:36.579 --> 00:18:43.059 innovation? Very good question. So this may vary 00:18:43.059 --> 00:18:46.720 from most people's perspective. There's two ways 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:52.519 of looking at it. I have this product or I have 00:18:52.519 --> 00:18:55.539 this mission. I want to be X, Y, Z. And then 00:18:55.539 --> 00:18:58.940 I begin to find everybody in that environment 00:18:58.940 --> 00:19:01.220 and then send them emails and do this and do 00:19:01.220 --> 00:19:04.099 that and blast them with LinkedIn stuff and whatever 00:19:04.099 --> 00:19:06.440 to create this thing. And I show up at every 00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:11.880 meeting everywhere now. That is like taking a 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:17.519 shotgun and trying to hit a mosquito. Okay. For 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:19.779 multiple reasons, it doesn't work because A, 00:19:19.960 --> 00:19:25.579 you can't do that at scale and be genuine. Okay. 00:19:25.900 --> 00:19:28.859 So, yes, it's like having friends on Facebook. 00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:32.720 I have, I don't know, 15 ,000 people on LinkedIn 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:37.220 or 10 ,000 people on Facebook. I do. But how 00:19:37.220 --> 00:19:39.220 many of them are really my friends? If I have 00:19:39.220 --> 00:19:43.640 a problem, who would come to my assistance? Nobody. 00:19:43.980 --> 00:19:47.279 So there is this idea that if I have a broad 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:51.640 network of people, that would funnel down to 00:19:51.640 --> 00:19:54.920 something. funneling down to something, says, 00:19:55.019 --> 00:19:57.480 I'm going to go as many as possible. And then, 00:19:57.579 --> 00:20:01.200 okay, I only need two people to make my business 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:06.059 work. So what happens is you waste a lot of time 00:20:06.059 --> 00:20:08.799 over here. You're not genuine. They understand 00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:11.240 that you're not genuine. And then you may get 00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:14.299 to two people. Now, entrepreneurship is not luck. 00:20:16.980 --> 00:20:19.779 People say entrepreneurship is about risk takers. 00:20:19.799 --> 00:20:23.640 Risk takers are in Las Vegas. entrepreneurs are 00:20:23.640 --> 00:20:27.599 risk navigators. How do you navigate risk? By 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:30.299 being attentive, network with people, not because 00:20:30.299 --> 00:20:32.059 you want to get something out of them, because 00:20:32.059 --> 00:20:35.740 you want to give something to them. And when 00:20:35.740 --> 00:20:39.079 you do that, and you're genuine about it, those 00:20:39.079 --> 00:20:43.720 build relationships that are rooted in trust. 00:20:43.819 --> 00:20:48.410 And those trust -worthy relationships Or the 00:20:48.410 --> 00:20:51.549 network that's going to prosper. When networking, 00:20:51.710 --> 00:20:56.190 there's really a whole, there's a mantra. If 00:20:56.190 --> 00:20:57.890 they know you, if they like you, if they trust 00:20:57.890 --> 00:21:00.750 you, they'll do business with you. But when you 00:21:00.750 --> 00:21:04.170 go into a networking event or networking with 00:21:04.170 --> 00:21:07.490 a person, you're looking to give, not to receive. 00:21:07.829 --> 00:21:10.529 That's exactly right. You're always looking to 00:21:10.529 --> 00:21:13.069 give because the more you give, the more that 00:21:13.069 --> 00:21:16.079 they will respect you. But also they will turn 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:19.519 around and want to give you something. But you're 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:21.759 not going to ask for it. You're going to sit 00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:24.579 there and say, how can I help you? How can I 00:21:24.579 --> 00:21:28.460 make you more successful? Because they make, 00:21:28.500 --> 00:21:30.660 at the end, because they make every decision. 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:33.819 This is a fundamentally different way of looking 00:21:33.819 --> 00:21:38.819 at business. I don't make decisions. They make 00:21:38.819 --> 00:21:42.970 decisions. Absolutely. They make decisions. So 00:21:42.970 --> 00:21:45.730 I have to understand why they're making that 00:21:45.730 --> 00:21:48.109 decision. Yes, at some point, I have to make 00:21:48.109 --> 00:21:50.410 a decision to get engaged or not to get engaged. 00:21:50.589 --> 00:21:53.670 I do have to do that, right? But it is their 00:21:53.670 --> 00:21:57.670 decision that gives me money, that gives me prosperity, 00:21:58.049 --> 00:22:00.730 that gives me connections, that gives me help. 00:22:00.829 --> 00:22:05.549 It's their decision. It's not my decision. Absolutely. 00:22:06.230 --> 00:22:10.069 Okay, so... Are there common networking mistakes 00:22:10.069 --> 00:22:13.910 among founders or leaders and how can they avoid 00:22:13.910 --> 00:22:20.970 them? I'm going to go back almost 40 years. There 00:22:20.970 --> 00:22:25.299 was a guy. And he had a beard. We used to call 00:22:25.299 --> 00:22:29.759 him H -Beard. He used to study. I went to USC, 00:22:29.960 --> 00:22:33.319 University of Southern California. And he was 00:22:33.319 --> 00:22:37.000 4 .0 all the way. He was a very smart guy, a 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:39.000 genius, super genius, whatever you want to call 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:40.519 it. And he had a beard. That's why we called 00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:43.359 him H -Beard. And I remember in those days there 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:46.500 were discotheques that people would go to. You 00:22:46.500 --> 00:22:49.440 may remember those days, but a lot of your audience 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:54.119 may not. I remember discotheques. I'm 63. Yeah. 00:22:54.140 --> 00:22:57.819 So I remember. We used to go there. We were college 00:22:57.819 --> 00:23:00.319 kids, so we would go there. And then one night, 00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:04.039 I noticed this guy came in the door. I was already 00:23:04.039 --> 00:23:05.960 there having a drink, and he came in the door, 00:23:05.980 --> 00:23:09.000 and he went and he started asking girls, would 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:12.829 you like to dance? And then move on. Would you 00:23:12.829 --> 00:23:15.069 like to dance? And then move on. I said, hey, 00:23:15.170 --> 00:23:18.369 what are you doing? He said, on the average, 00:23:18.509 --> 00:23:21.450 I have done the analysis. I get 22 no's before 00:23:21.450 --> 00:23:24.069 I get to a yes. I like to get the no's out of 00:23:24.069 --> 00:23:29.170 the way. So one big mistake is people go to these 00:23:29.170 --> 00:23:33.309 meetings and they think that I'm a good networker. 00:23:33.329 --> 00:23:35.390 So they go to people, to people, to people. Hello, 00:23:35.509 --> 00:23:36.930 how are you? Okay, thank you very much. Okay, 00:23:36.990 --> 00:23:39.009 let me get a card. Okay, so what did you accomplish? 00:23:39.390 --> 00:23:41.940 Nothing. You have a card and now you're trying 00:23:41.940 --> 00:23:44.859 to email the guy somehow or another and have 00:23:44.859 --> 00:23:48.220 a conversation with him. Okay, you have a conversation 00:23:48.220 --> 00:23:55.079 now. So it's this idea that volume, quantity 00:23:55.079 --> 00:24:00.160 is more important than the quality. I used to 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:03.299 be in the mortgage industry and I would go to 00:24:03.299 --> 00:24:06.220 networking events. I'd come home with a shoebox 00:24:06.220 --> 00:24:09.549 filled with business cards. I'd say, look how 00:24:09.549 --> 00:24:13.890 good I did. Yeah. It's so completely wrong that 00:24:13.890 --> 00:24:17.930 it's unbelievable. So now when I coach or when 00:24:17.930 --> 00:24:21.630 I do a workshop or anything else, I tell you, 00:24:21.650 --> 00:24:23.190 say, look, if you go to a three or four hour 00:24:23.190 --> 00:24:26.869 event, come home with about 15, maybe 20 business 00:24:26.869 --> 00:24:30.410 cards. And that's because you are creating that 00:24:30.410 --> 00:24:34.029 relationship with them. And you actually have 00:24:34.029 --> 00:24:36.970 something to speak about during your follow up. 00:24:37.210 --> 00:24:39.690 Because your follow -up is so much more important 00:24:39.690 --> 00:24:43.190 than meeting the person. Correct. Correct. So 00:24:43.190 --> 00:24:45.190 here's the thing. And this is the other mistake. 00:24:45.450 --> 00:24:47.569 They talk to people. I've seen this. And people 00:24:47.569 --> 00:24:49.549 come to me. And they immediately, within the 00:24:49.549 --> 00:24:51.569 first 30 seconds, they're trying to sell me something. 00:24:51.809 --> 00:24:55.250 I'm in the business of this. Are you interested 00:24:55.250 --> 00:24:57.869 in this? Not really. Okay. Thank you very much. 00:24:57.990 --> 00:25:01.150 Okay. So first of all, I don't know who the hell 00:25:01.150 --> 00:25:04.930 you are. Secondly, you don't know who I am. So 00:25:04.930 --> 00:25:08.009 why would I need? what you have and for what 00:25:08.009 --> 00:25:10.970 purpose there is no trust there is no relationship 00:25:10.970 --> 00:25:13.349 there's no this is not you're not selling toilet 00:25:13.349 --> 00:25:15.950 papers that i'm going to ralphs and pick it up 00:25:15.950 --> 00:25:19.450 because i've got to go to the restroom so the 00:25:19.450 --> 00:25:25.509 idea of knowing each other is more important 00:25:25.509 --> 00:25:30.190 than selling something there goes the relationship 00:25:30.190 --> 00:25:34.670 part of the equation i've gone from transactional 00:25:35.690 --> 00:25:41.430 to a relationship -based meeting. If you create 00:25:41.430 --> 00:25:44.210 that relationship, then you'll go much further. 00:25:44.789 --> 00:25:49.430 Okay, so how can someone balance tech -driven 00:25:49.430 --> 00:25:53.170 efficiency like AI tools with the human touch 00:25:53.170 --> 00:25:59.130 required for authentic networking? So what I 00:25:59.130 --> 00:26:03.250 always say about AI is don't delegate your imagination 00:26:03.250 --> 00:26:08.180 to AI. Okay? Don't delegate your imagination. 00:26:09.059 --> 00:26:11.500 Meaning, you have a lot of people now. Everything 00:26:11.500 --> 00:26:15.039 they want to do, they go to chat GPT. Some problems 00:26:15.039 --> 00:26:17.880 are that people have committed suicide because 00:26:17.880 --> 00:26:20.740 they go to chat GPT and use it as a psychologist. 00:26:22.099 --> 00:26:26.559 Okay, that's it. Because, so they, some people, 00:26:26.660 --> 00:26:31.759 want the machine to tell them what to do. Okay, 00:26:31.819 --> 00:26:33.599 because we are trained in this. Remember that 00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:35.740 go back to our original, the conversation that 00:26:35.740 --> 00:26:38.259 we started with. It's this educational thing 00:26:38.259 --> 00:26:41.160 that we're used to this, tell me what to do. 00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:43.839 And if I'm good at following orders, I should 00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:47.140 get something at the other end. So this is now 00:26:47.140 --> 00:26:50.019 a machine telling us what to do. Okay, call, 00:26:50.140 --> 00:26:52.400 I'll do this thing. Here's the email, send these 00:26:52.400 --> 00:26:55.279 three emails. Guess what? They gave exactly the 00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:59.369 same, this machine. is giving exactly the same 00:26:59.369 --> 00:27:04.049 advice to about a thousand, if not 10 ,000 other 00:27:04.049 --> 00:27:08.509 people who are asking it about networking. So 00:27:08.509 --> 00:27:10.910 all those people out there are going to get emails 00:27:10.910 --> 00:27:13.750 that looks exactly the same like everybody else. 00:27:13.990 --> 00:27:19.130 So you just lost your edge. Absolutely. Don't 00:27:19.130 --> 00:27:25.069 confuse efficiency with effectiveness. Effectiveness. 00:27:25.720 --> 00:27:29.400 comes from you and who you are and what you bring 00:27:29.400 --> 00:27:32.880 to the table, how trustworthy you are, how you 00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:36.299 listen, how you address problems, how you build 00:27:36.299 --> 00:27:40.160 relationships. That's effectiveness. Efficiency 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:45.539 is how quickly you do it. Absolutely. And it's 00:27:45.539 --> 00:27:48.240 a choice that people have to make. It's a conscious 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:51.579 choice. It's a conscious choice, but you have 00:27:51.579 --> 00:27:56.210 to train yourself or themselves. To do it the 00:27:56.210 --> 00:27:59.029 right way, because when I said I went to the 00:27:59.029 --> 00:28:01.130 school of hard knocks, I did everything the wrong 00:28:01.130 --> 00:28:05.190 way because I have to train. I had to train myself 00:28:05.190 --> 00:28:09.829 to do things the right way. And once I train 00:28:09.829 --> 00:28:13.789 myself and doing things the right way, then I 00:28:13.789 --> 00:28:17.009 was successful. I think the key word there that 00:28:17.009 --> 00:28:20.210 I want to emphasize is I have to train myself 00:28:20.210 --> 00:28:25.390 based on who you are. I am a horrible networker, 00:28:25.390 --> 00:28:27.549 I'll be very honest. I'll go into, you put me 00:28:27.549 --> 00:28:30.450 in a room with three people, four people, I'm 00:28:30.450 --> 00:28:33.609 very effective. Because I can build relationships. 00:28:34.009 --> 00:28:36.869 You put me in a room with 200 people, I'm very 00:28:36.869 --> 00:28:42.769 ineffective. You got to know who you are. So 00:28:42.769 --> 00:28:45.450 my objective is when I go there, is to find four 00:28:45.450 --> 00:28:49.990 people. Not 25, not 15. My objective is to find... 00:28:50.140 --> 00:28:53.539 a good conversation because i know i'm horrible 00:28:53.539 --> 00:28:55.960 at getting this thing i'm going to fail at the 00:28:55.960 --> 00:29:00.700 end so my success is can i find a friend i'm 00:29:00.700 --> 00:29:04.059 here for two hours can i find somebody to have 00:29:04.059 --> 00:29:06.599 a good conversation and learn with and trust 00:29:06.599 --> 00:29:10.440 with and i'm looking for how can i help as opposed 00:29:10.440 --> 00:29:14.940 to taking business cards but that's me my point 00:29:14.940 --> 00:29:18.160 is you have to find your authentic approach Yeah, 00:29:18.180 --> 00:29:22.180 that's you, but that is the correct way in order 00:29:22.180 --> 00:29:26.299 to network in today's environment. So by you 00:29:26.299 --> 00:29:30.079 going there and wanting to connect with somebody, 00:29:30.140 --> 00:29:32.299 become friends with somebody, that's building 00:29:32.299 --> 00:29:37.400 your relationship and you get far more ahead 00:29:37.400 --> 00:29:43.400 than that transactional. So it goes a long way. 00:29:43.900 --> 00:29:48.019 In the entrepreneurial world. How do you identify 00:29:48.019 --> 00:29:51.660 the right people to connect with versus just 00:29:51.660 --> 00:29:55.640 collecting contacts? We just went over it. I 00:29:55.640 --> 00:29:58.720 think we just went over it. But the key is, if 00:29:58.720 --> 00:30:02.160 you listen, and is there something I can do for 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:07.440 somebody? You are a problem solver. Always remember 00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:11.279 that. You are a problem solver. Those are the 00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:13.299 people you have to connect with, not the ones 00:30:13.299 --> 00:30:15.750 that solve your problem. See, this is the thing. 00:30:15.809 --> 00:30:18.809 We look for, hey, I need cash flow, so I need 00:30:18.809 --> 00:30:22.049 somebody to solve it. Let's go find people who 00:30:22.049 --> 00:30:24.549 can give me money. It doesn't work that way. 00:30:25.069 --> 00:30:28.869 No, it doesn't. It doesn't. Okay. What lessons 00:30:28.869 --> 00:30:32.289 from education and leadership training translate 00:30:32.289 --> 00:30:36.490 directly into building a strong professional 00:30:36.490 --> 00:30:42.849 network? So all of us, all of us are leaders. 00:30:44.779 --> 00:30:49.460 We may be bad leaders. We may be ineffective 00:30:49.460 --> 00:30:53.339 leaders. But we all lead something. We all lead 00:30:53.339 --> 00:30:55.960 our own life in some way. We may lead a team. 00:30:56.079 --> 00:30:58.839 We may lead in the right environments that we 00:30:58.839 --> 00:31:01.339 create and we choose and we feel confident we 00:31:01.339 --> 00:31:06.500 lead. It's part of life. Now, we may not have 00:31:06.500 --> 00:31:09.519 the confidence to lead properly because we think, 00:31:09.519 --> 00:31:12.059 I don't know enough as much as Michael, so he's 00:31:12.059 --> 00:31:15.829 a better leader than I am. Maybe. In some situations, 00:31:15.930 --> 00:31:18.509 he's a better leader than you are. Now, I use 00:31:18.509 --> 00:31:21.930 the example of these, the Eskimo have used these 00:31:21.930 --> 00:31:25.529 dogs, the slate dogs or whatever they call them. 00:31:25.589 --> 00:31:29.509 Sure. Yeah. So there's usually 10 or 12 or 16 00:31:29.509 --> 00:31:32.490 of them. Now, here's the thing. They each have 00:31:32.490 --> 00:31:35.470 a role. And by the way, in different terrains, 00:31:35.470 --> 00:31:38.250 they move the guy who's in the dog that's in 00:31:38.250 --> 00:31:41.420 the end and that guy leaves. And they bring him 00:31:41.420 --> 00:31:44.559 forward because he knows how to lead in a situation. 00:31:44.599 --> 00:31:47.319 And then they switch him around and some lead 00:31:47.319 --> 00:31:51.839 in a different way. So the lead dog, which is 00:31:51.839 --> 00:31:55.500 a term people use a lot, the lead dog doesn't 00:31:55.500 --> 00:31:59.819 have to be the lead dog all the time. You lead 00:31:59.819 --> 00:32:03.059 based on situations. Now, that comes from your 00:32:03.059 --> 00:32:06.339 confidence. That comes from your, it does come 00:32:06.339 --> 00:32:08.440 from your education. It does come from skills, 00:32:08.619 --> 00:32:11.839 but. Every situation requires a different kind 00:32:11.839 --> 00:32:16.039 of a leadership. You're in a war. That's a different 00:32:16.039 --> 00:32:19.019 kind of leadership. Then you're leading a five 00:32:19.019 --> 00:32:21.599 -year -old, you're a coach or a leader in a five 00:32:21.599 --> 00:32:24.519 -year -old soccer game. It's a different leadership. 00:32:25.079 --> 00:32:28.140 You're a mom and you're leading the efforts at 00:32:28.140 --> 00:32:30.799 home of who gets up at what time and who gets 00:32:30.799 --> 00:32:33.079 the stuff and who goes to school at what time 00:32:33.079 --> 00:32:34.880 or who does the homework. It's a different thing. 00:32:35.019 --> 00:32:37.920 You lead Microsoft or you lead a donut shop. 00:32:38.490 --> 00:32:40.529 You lead them at different levels, at different 00:32:40.529 --> 00:32:44.369 areas. So connecting that to your networking 00:32:44.369 --> 00:32:48.690 thing. In every situation, every conversation, 00:32:48.950 --> 00:32:53.829 we're either leading or following or both. Being 00:32:53.829 --> 00:32:59.730 able to realize how to lead or follow, like this 00:32:59.730 --> 00:33:03.890 late doc, how to lead or follow in that conversation 00:33:03.890 --> 00:33:08.680 makes you a better network. Okay. Okay, let's 00:33:08.680 --> 00:33:13.079 bring this podcast full circle. If you could 00:33:13.079 --> 00:33:17.539 give one actionable networking strategy to anyone 00:33:17.539 --> 00:33:20.339 looking to accelerate their career or business 00:33:20.339 --> 00:33:25.640 growth, what would it be? One tangible, actionable. 00:33:25.920 --> 00:33:29.440 So I would avoid to go out there and obvious, 00:33:29.559 --> 00:33:32.240 those are obvious things. What I would say would 00:33:32.240 --> 00:33:38.029 be tangible. is the practicing before you network. 00:33:38.309 --> 00:33:42.210 So let me explain what I mean. Think that you're 00:33:42.210 --> 00:33:46.369 networking with your mom's friends or with your 00:33:46.369 --> 00:33:49.230 uncle's friends or with your cousins or with 00:33:49.230 --> 00:33:53.710 the person who's at the grocery store. Practice 00:33:53.710 --> 00:33:59.089 listening. That's a safe place. You're not selling 00:33:59.089 --> 00:34:04.269 anything. Learn how to listen. Learn how to appreciate 00:34:04.269 --> 00:34:07.609 who people are and create a conversation. Do 00:34:07.609 --> 00:34:11.650 it in a safe place. And when you get that ability 00:34:11.650 --> 00:34:15.670 to connect with people in a genuine way, in your 00:34:15.670 --> 00:34:19.510 own way, then you have the skills. And there 00:34:19.510 --> 00:34:22.610 are thousands of books and capabilities and experts 00:34:22.610 --> 00:34:25.789 like yourself in terms of how to get bigger networks 00:34:25.789 --> 00:34:29.070 and whatever. Then you have the skill set or 00:34:29.070 --> 00:34:34.079 the skillfulness. to be able to apply. That would 00:34:34.079 --> 00:34:37.800 be my advice. That was great. That was absolutely 00:34:37.800 --> 00:34:40.599 great. There's so much more that I want to ask 00:34:40.599 --> 00:34:43.719 you or talk about, but time won't let us. So 00:34:43.719 --> 00:34:46.460 if somebody wanted to get hold of you for whatever 00:34:46.460 --> 00:34:49.199 the reason, what's the best way for them to get 00:34:49.199 --> 00:34:53.199 hold of you? My email is Sid at Mahasib .com, 00:34:53.300 --> 00:34:56.460 which is, you see it on the screens at Mahasib, 00:34:56.480 --> 00:35:00.659 my first name at mylastname .com. I also want 00:35:00.659 --> 00:35:04.179 Michael to mention the Anavases Academy, where 00:35:04.179 --> 00:35:06.860 you started, where we started, which is where 00:35:06.860 --> 00:35:11.119 we provoke and engage. We have a lot of stuff 00:35:11.119 --> 00:35:17.139 and the membership could be, is $1 forever. And 00:35:17.139 --> 00:35:19.409 then the next level is something that... people 00:35:19.409 --> 00:35:22.670 have paid forward and sponsored folks. Because 00:35:22.670 --> 00:35:27.429 I believe that if I'm provoked and if I can put 00:35:27.429 --> 00:35:29.969 my own authentic self together, if I practice 00:35:29.969 --> 00:35:32.369 my entrepreneurship in the way I defined it, 00:35:32.449 --> 00:35:35.969 of realizing what I have and exchanging it for 00:35:35.969 --> 00:35:38.849 something better, we will live in a much better 00:35:38.849 --> 00:35:42.980 world. So I'd like to invite everybody and they 00:35:42.980 --> 00:35:46.219 can go there, anabasesacademy .org. They can 00:35:46.219 --> 00:35:48.659 listen to our wake -up calls. They could become 00:35:48.659 --> 00:35:51.760 a member. They can apply to be sponsored by clicking 00:35:51.760 --> 00:35:54.380 on sponsor me and somebody would pay for them. 00:35:54.559 --> 00:35:57.780 So let's get engaged. Let's provoke each other. 00:35:57.860 --> 00:36:00.960 And we say this is a learning platform. We learn 00:36:00.960 --> 00:36:02.920 from each other. I don't know. I don't have all 00:36:02.920 --> 00:36:05.599 the answers. I do not have. We at the Academy 00:36:05.599 --> 00:36:08.659 do not have a one, two, three solution for you. 00:36:09.480 --> 00:36:11.199 I'm not going to give you something that's going 00:36:11.199 --> 00:36:15.800 to make you a trillionaire tomorrow. But we'll 00:36:15.800 --> 00:36:19.179 together learn how to evolve and how to be better 00:36:19.179 --> 00:36:23.079 in our own authentic way. So that's a sustainable 00:36:23.079 --> 00:36:27.480 growth. It sounds fabulous. Sid, I can't begin 00:36:27.480 --> 00:36:30.519 to tell you how much I appreciate everything 00:36:30.519 --> 00:36:33.920 you've told me, taught me. And I hope to speak 00:36:33.920 --> 00:36:37.590 with you again soon. God bless. It was a pleasure. 00:36:37.670 --> 00:36:43.889 God bless you and all of your audience. Well, 00:36:43.929 --> 00:36:47.389 hold on, folks. Don't go anywhere. Let's hear 00:36:47.389 --> 00:36:51.130 from our sponsors. David Neal, co -founder Revved 00:36:51.130 --> 00:36:54.619 Up Kids. Revved Up Kids is on a mission to protect 00:36:54.619 --> 00:36:58.420 children and teens from sexual abuse, exploitation, 00:36:58.679 --> 00:37:01.739 and trafficking. They provide prevention training 00:37:01.739 --> 00:37:05.500 programs for children, teens, and adults. To 00:37:05.500 --> 00:37:10.139 learn more, go to revvedupkids .org. Henry Kaplan, 00:37:10.300 --> 00:37:13.360 Century 21. When it comes to making the biggest 00:37:13.360 --> 00:37:16.360 financial decision of your life, leave it in 00:37:16.360 --> 00:37:19.179 the hands of a proven professional, Henry Kaplan. 00:37:19.400 --> 00:37:22.699 Henry is a global real estate agent with Century 00:37:22.699 --> 00:37:27.159 21, celebrating his 41st year in business. No 00:37:27.159 --> 00:37:29.579 matter where you're moving, Henry has the right 00:37:29.579 --> 00:37:33.119 connections for you. You can contact Henry at 00:37:33.119 --> 00:37:39.659 561 -427 -4888. A huge thank you to our guests 00:37:39.659 --> 00:37:43.469 for sharing such... insights today. And of course, 00:37:43.469 --> 00:37:46.409 a big shout out to you, our amazing listeners, 00:37:46.610 --> 00:37:49.329 for tuning in and spending your time with us. 00:37:49.550 --> 00:37:52.889 If you're interested in my digital courses, being 00:37:52.889 --> 00:37:55.610 coached or having me come and talk to your company, 00:37:55.869 --> 00:37:59.269 just go to Michael and fill out the request form. 00:37:59.789 --> 00:38:03.110 Remember, networking isn't about being perfect. 00:38:03.309 --> 00:38:06.389 It's about being present. So take what you've 00:38:06.389 --> 00:38:09.230 learned today, get out there and make some meaningful 00:38:09.230 --> 00:38:12.179 connections. If you've enjoyed this episode, 00:38:12.380 --> 00:38:15.320 please don't forget to subscribe. Leave us a 00:38:15.320 --> 00:38:17.940 review and share it with someone who could use 00:38:17.940 --> 00:38:21.059 a little networking inspiration. Let's keep the 00:38:21.059 --> 00:38:24.079 conversation going. You can find me on Apple, 00:38:24.199 --> 00:38:29.019 Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, or my website, foreman 00:38:29.019 --> 00:38:31.420 .com slash podcasts.