Here's how you can maintain adaptability in a dynamic financial services landscape.

The landscape of business is constantly changing. The Covid Pandemic did nothing but speed up a process which was already in motion. This process sent many people home to work remote which altered the fabric of the B2C sales dynamic. I used to believe that while new relationships CAN be formed virtually, the best way to build a relationship is to face-to-face. Statistics have proved me wrong. With data published from multiple sources proving that more relationships are now being formed online through connections on social media and platforms like LinkedIn, it would be folly not to amend my view and both learn about, and take advantage of, platforms built to connect people in an environment in which they are most comfortable. #SalesNavigator

I had a career crisis pop up right in the middle of the Covid pandemic. I was terrified as companies were not hiring, opportunities were scarce, and the outlook was generally dim. I found Coursera.Org, signed up for Coursera Plus and started earning multiple Executive Specializations. Reinvigorated, I then decided to focus on Agile and became certified in Agile Methodologies (Scrum) which then lead me to start a Masters program through the University of Illinois. I share this journey to say this, the only way to be agile is business is to start with being agile as a person. Develop yourself, push yourself, and fail fast and then continue to move! If you are not willing to change yourself then how can you change your business?

I think there is no way to properly emphasize the importance of building a vast and varied network of connections. I also think that the building of this network ought to be entirely intentional. Over the last few years I have tried to create a balance in my networking so as to not overload my network in one area. To that end, I will try to connect with 5 to 10 people via LinkedIn each day but I will focus on different industries and geographies. For example, I am a commercial banker, so I will spend a few days focusing on the type of clients I would like to work with. I am a certified football (soccer) scout so I will spend a day connecting within the soccer community. I believe the keys to networking are to be intentional and authentic.

There was a time in my professional life where the "ask" seemed like the most difficult part of business. I found it natural to maneuver into positions and situations which could be beneficial for growth and opportunity, but I found myself being tentative and fearing the dreaded answer of "no". When I accepted that most opportunities are created from not just being present, but from ASKING the right questions, it finally occurred to me that the true business success stories always risked the "no" to find out if there was a "yes" right around the corner. Now I am always asking for the opportunity, the meeting, the "business", because the only way to get to the "yes" is to risk the "no".