Support goes both ways.

My network continues to be one of the most important tools I have in my personal and professional life. Lately, as I am in the thick of being the "sandwiched generation" I find that my personal network is keeping me grounded. I ask my personal network more questions and need more support to validate what I am experiencing. Professionally I am blurring the lines in my relationships and I talk more about what I am experiencing personally. Sometimes I don't share information very well and I think I come across as a blabbermouth or unfocused. I have a little bit of both but I always get the work job done. I am often unsure what is appropriate to say and do with "work friends" so it's easier to stick to superficial topics. Still unsure if this is a good tactic or bad tactic but for now it feels safer!

Whenever I get confused as to what to do in relationships I always go back to the Strengthfinders tool that I took at Best Buy many years ago and use with clients to develop leaders and teams. I'm a WOO. That means Winning Others Over. I interpret that as not telling people all my challenges and struggles because I don't want to be a downer. I wish I had relator as a strength. Relators ask questions that build really strong relationships in a short amount of time. In fact, usually I can identify a relator as they ask me a question in interaction one or two that makes me uncomfortable. WOO's are more surface.

I want to be a level-headed relator with powerful questions. Since I have developer as one of my strengths, I am leaning into what I believe in and sharing with you. Not all my challenges and issues, but the amazing work of other people in my network.

My tennis friend Rachel LaTour and her son are involved in the Pine Tree Apple Tennis Classic. ?If you haven't heard, it is a Minnesota based charity tennis tournament that raises money to fund Children's Cancer research initiatives at Children's Minnesota . Rachel is helping her son who is playing in the 13 and under age bracket with one last push to get to the top and beat the current front-runner who has raised $16,000. ?If you want to donate, here is the link to his fundraising page. One of my other strengths is competitive!

https://www.flipcause.com/secure/fundraiser/MjAxMzUz/97481 (https://www.flipcause.com/secure/fundraiser/MjAxMzUz/97481)

I support other people and continue to work on finding the balance of asking for support personally and professionally. This is one of the key skills to building a powerful network.

Rock on,

Cathy Paper

#networking #strengthsfinder #fundraiser #tennis #nonprofit #tennis