Making Waves at C-Level Thom Singer

In this episode of Making Waves at C-Level, Thom Singer dives into the power of connections and their crucial role in career success. Reflecting on the pandemic, Thom notes the significant disruption to networking and community engagement, which left many professionals isolated. While the world has reopened, enthusiasm for in-person networking hasn’t fully returned to pre-pandemic levels, and membership organizations and business nonprofits have struggled to regain their momentum.
Thom emphasizes that real career opportunities come from meaningful connections, not just from social media interactions like tweets, TikTok videos, or getting likes and shares. While digital engagement has its place, it cannot replace the value of personal relationships. He stresses that those who fail to re-engage in their industry and community may miss out on career advancements, inadvertently allowing these opportunities to go to others.
To maximize networking potential, Thom provides insights for both event planners and attendees. He advises event planners to actively create environments that foster networking:

Create Networking Opportunities: Design events to encourage networking during happy hours, breaks, meals, and other activities, making them exciting and conducive to meeting new people.

Engage Speakers: Encourage speakers to participate in the event beyond their presentations. Speakers should mingle with attendees, facilitating networking and contributing to a sense of community.

Interactive Sessions: Design breakout sessions where speakers ask questions and engage the audience, promoting discussions and connections among attendees.

Icebreaker Activities: Implement icebreaker activities to help attendees meet each other, especially at the beginning of the event and during key moments like breakfast.

Facilitated Learning Conversations: Set up areas for attendees to discuss what they have learned from keynotes and breakouts, sharing best practices and experiences.

Leverage Technology: Use technology before, during, and after the event to enable attendees to comment, share insights, and connect with each other.

For event attendees, Thom offers practical advice on making the most of networking opportunities:

Be Open and Approachable: Stand around, smile, and start conversations. Avoid isolating yourself by being engrossed in your phone.

Ask Questions: Engage with speakers and fellow attendees by asking questions about their experiences and what they hope to gain from the event. This sparks meaningful conversations.

Follow Up: After meeting someone, follow up with them. Adding them on LinkedIn or to your email list is not enough. Schedule one-on-one conversations to build a genuine relationship.

Thom underscores that building connections requires intentional effort and engagement. Meeting someone once does not equate to forming a network. Instead, it’s about cultivating long-term, mutually beneficial relationships. He concludes by calling for a movement towards more deliberate and meaningful connections, highlighting that those who actively facilitate networking and community-building will see significant benefits in their careers.
This episode serves as a reminder of the profound impact that connections can have on professional success and the importance of re-engaging with our communities as we move forward from the disruptions of the pandemic.
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There is often advice given to leaders that they need to "protect their time" and that they should only attend "curated events" as to not have to be bombarded by people wanting advice, etc...

Sometimes people ask if they can "pick your brain" and many people get mad as they see it as someone just wanting "free consulting". But instead of being up off when someone wants your advice... how about reframing their request into a giant compliment. Think about it, if you find someone mediocre (or worse)....do you ask them for advice? We only ask to "pick the brain" of someone we admire.

Plus, if you are a leader, you have to be active in your community. A community can be geographic or an industry... but if you see yourself as a leader, and yet you hide from the people you claim to lead, then you are not really a leader. A true leader cannot lead from behind an office door or while sipping bourbon from their pool. Real leaders are in the arena.

Ask yourself...."when is the last time I really attended an industry or community event where I was not the speaker or it was sponsored by my company?". If you are not sure, then start getting engaged. Either locally or with your industry trade group. Be the one who shows up and is willing to mentor and guide others.

It is probably true that many people were there for you to share advice, be a mentor, or have their "brain picked" when you were up and coming in your career. The time has come to make sure you are returning that favor to the next generation.

This does NOT mean you have to attend everything (you are too busy), but make sure one of your weekly / monthly activities is an open event and show up just to be supportive of the greater community. Leaders must lead by example and people are hungry for community these days!

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Thom Singer is a keynote speaker who shares a message of community, collaboration, and conversations. The more we engage now, the more opportunities come our way in the future.
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In this episode we look at the power of community and how the people you meet are the only way to learn and find new opportunities over you lifetime.
When speaking at a conference of young professionals, Thom Singer offered up the secret weapon to their future of career options. It is networking now, building real connections and friendships, and helping others.
In a world or remote work and digital networking, those who engage will win in the long run.
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After a long time away, the "Making Waves at C-Level" podcast is trying to come back into regular production. Host Thom Singer has been serving as the CEO of the Austin Technology Council, and has been hosting that organizations show "Austin Tech Connect".
But this show has been around for 10 years, and it has had a good following over the years. Thom is ready to come back and share ideas and promote his message of community, collaboration, and conversations.

In this episode he talks about building friendships and business relationships over the age of 50. Check out his short episode and share with him your thoughts.

https://thomsinger.com
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We hear a lot about "Collaboration"...but too often we see selfish people just using the word. Collaboration is a two way street. If you always start with "What's in it for me" you are not a collaborator. If you use collaboration as a buzz word for "Sales", you are not thinking win / win.
In this short episodes Thom shares his beliefs about what is collaboration. To really collaborate you need to have shared vision, open communication, mutual respect, and trust. But people enter collaborative situations and then want full control, they don't share important information, and they withhold resources.
Some believe you have to be all out for yourself if you want to win. Thom Singer thinks in the long run you are more satisfied in life when you embrace collaboration.
Ask yourself if you really see advantages to collaboration. If yes, live by example.

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Authentic leaders win in the long run. If you are pretending to have leadership success... people see through the lies. This episode talks about how to not only highlight your victories, but how great leaders admit their faults.
Thom Singer recently received six emails from people showing how someone told a blatant lie in their bio. They claimed something that was entirely made up, and people in the community knew this was just BS and were forwarding the bio around to others showing how this leader, known to be narcissist, had graduated to just making things up in their resume.
If you are not authentic, people will know. While nobody had the guts to call this person out in public (we still live in a mostly polite society that is resistant to conflict), people were circulating the lies with long chain emails about this person. Not good.
Does your resume have blatant lies? This episode of "Making Waves at C-Level" will make you rethink. Like we have not learned enough from Congressman George Santos who simply created a trail of made up things. Eventually his lies were seen. The person mentioned in this episode who padded their resume (who would hate being compared to Trump or Santos) would cringe at the emails making that connection.
You do not need to lie in your resume unless you are a total fraud who feels you are weak. Strong leaders can rely on their strengths and can admit their mistakes.
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