GUEST POST BY MICHAEL RODERICK: Someone Else’s Keys

Please welcome Michael Roderick to the blog today! Michael is a New York City Producer and “People Connector” whom you should know! Today he’s sharing one of his best tips for networking and advancing in your career.

Someone else’s keys

At some point in your life, you have probably had a moment when you got a key to something that didn’t open the thing it was supposed to. You most likely felt frustrated and may have even tried to force the key into the door. In this scenario, one of two things happens:

You break the key.

You realize you have the wrong key and you try to find the right one.

The same scenario is true for your career. There are going to be things that you think will lead you to the next big step that turn out to not lead anywhere, projects that sound like they will solve all of your problems that fall flat, and people who you’ll expect have the answers who end up knowing less than you. In a world full of keys that don’t fit into the doors that you want to open, what are you going to do?

Use those keys for someone else’s door.

On my blog I spend a lot of time discussing networking and connecting. I usually make a couple of hundred introductions every few months, and with all the time I have spent working with artists on various projects, the same issue always presents itself. There is always something missing and inevitably whatever is missing falls into the category of something that another person has and many times may not even know they have it. While you sit here reading this, there are thousands of keys surrounding you.

Your facebook friends, twitter followers, LinkedIn connections, mailing lists, blogs, event pages, Kickstarter pages, etc. Every one of these things is a key for someone else’s door. The best way to figure out who needs which key is to get out there and ask. When you do this, when you take the time to figure out how you can fill in the missing pieces, something really cool happens. Other people start to share their keys with you.

Success in any field is not about digging in your heels and doing it all yourself, it’s about figuring out what you can do for others. We’re all walking around with someone else’s keys. We need to get out there and start opening other people’s doors. I want you to do one really simple thing for me and comment on this post, tweet with #someoneelseskeys, and tell us about how you reached out to someone else and how something you had was something they needed. Maybe you’re a great artist and someone you know needs a poster, maybe you have a day job in a publishing office and someone you know is dying to speak to a publisher, maybe you are a yoga enthusiast and someone you know wants to learn more about yoga.

Give.

Help.

Connect.

Don’t waste all of those keys you have. Start opening doors and tell the world about it!

Success doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

It happens in rooms where people are opening doors for one another.

You have someone else’s keys right now.

This very second.

Go.

Use them.

Excelsior!

P.S.- If you want to meet other connectors and learn more about connecting, check out this conference!

Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us, Michael! To keep up-to-date with Michael, check out his links or follow him on twitter!