How to Build a Network That Builds Your Career with Michael Morgan

Tim: 0:08

Welcome to Speaking with Confidence, a podcast dedicated to helping you unlock the power of effective public speaking. I’m Tim Newman, a recovering college professor turned communication coach, and I’m thrilled to guide you on a journey to becoming a powerful communicator. I want to thank each and every one of you for your support. It truly means the world to me. If you have questions or if you want something covered on the podcast, please send me a note. Also, please visit timnewmanspeakscom to get your free ebook the Top 21 Challenges for Public Speakers and how to Overcome them.

Tim: 0:38

Today’s guest is Michael Morgan. Michael obtained his BS from Penn State University and his MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, coupled with his educational background. He has over 15 years of work experience across companies such as Amazon, walmart, jpmorgan, chase and Chevron. He has a passion for teaching and inspiring others to achieve their goals, which led him to write his first book, the Power of Networking, and begin his journey as a motivational speaker. To write his first book, the Power of Networking, and begin his journey as a motivational speaker. Michael, welcome to the show. You know I love all my guests, but I just can’t do the we are. I just can’t do it, but I’m sorry.

Michael: 1:18

It’s okay.

Tim: 1:22

I don’t mind. I spent a good portion of my professional career in Pennsylvania. The Penn State fans up there are all over the world. Really, penn State has a fan base that’s literally all over the world, but in Pennsylvania in particular, they’re rabid. They’re everywhere and, honestly, when I look at different fan bases, they really are one of the best. They’re not like Eagles fans I hope you’re not an Eagles fan, okay but they really are one of the best.

Michael: 1:53

I absolutely agree. Like you said, the alumni base is so robust. Personally, I’ve lived in New York, pennsylvania, delaware, texas, washington, california and I mean anywhere that I moved to. I mean alumni have open arms. There’s always watch parties for football games any city, any state that you go to, so they’ve always been a great support system for me.

Tim: 2:20

And you know what. We’ll get into that a little bit as we go through this today and you mentioned a lot of that stuff in your book we’re going to talk about some networking and how important networking actually is. A lot of times we talk about networking just from a professional perspective perspective as well. That I think is forgotten a lot and how important it is you know to to to network, to build your, your, you know your, your personal life as well and and you’ve got some really good examples in your book that that hopefully we’ll get to, but to me it’s just just so important.

Michael: 3:00

Absolutely. It’s critical, like, like I said, I said I’ve moved around to multiple states, multiple cities that I’ve never been to. If I didn’t have my support system, if I wasn’t able to network I don’t know build that network and they ended up moving right back home. And then also just personal it opens up the doors for opportunities you wouldn’t even think, not career wise, like, as an example, I own two properties and people in my network have reached out to me about the opportunity to buy properties. One of the properties I own I’ve never even seen the house. Wow.

Michael: 3:44

But the people in my network have opened up the door and told me about these things. I’ve invested in startups and it’s not like there’s a website where you can go on and say, oh, I want to invest this many thousands of dollars in this startup at a convertible note. It’s a closed circle and if you know people, they can invite you to invest in a startup. So a lot of people in my network have opened up doors for me to build wealth outside of my career. They’ve been a great support system wherever I’ve moved to, wherever I’ve lived. So I completely agree, it’s not just about the professional setting.

Tim: 4:21

And again, I think that’s forgotten or we don’t focus on it because, you know, the focus is always on professional and work and those types of things and there is that other side, which I think there’s good and bad there. I think, because you get so much variety of experience and experience in different types of things, is there something that you noticed in all of them that they’re doing well in terms of hiring and professional development? Because I think you know those types of things, especially from a young professional’s perspective, they don’t even really think about.

Michael: 5:06

Yeah, absolutely. So I would say. As far as hiring, they use a lot, of, a vast amount of channels to make sure they’re getting a diverse pool set of talent that’s coming into the company. So a lot of the companies I’ve worked for, they already have partnerships with specific schools that they’ll go on campus and recruit from regularly. But they’re also going to different conferences.

Michael: 5:27

They’ll go to Afrotech, they’ll go to National Black MBA, they’ll go to Lesbians who Tech, they’ll go to Association of Latin Professionals of America. So there’s different conferences. They go to veterans conferences. So this way they’re getting great talent that has Black, hispanic, native American, a part of the LGBTQ plus community, former military veterans. So I think by expanding the pool, using different recruiting websites to find diverse talent, I think if you just focus on one aspect of recruiting, you’re not going to find the talent pool that you’re looking for. If you leverage multiple channels, that way you can make sure you’re bringing a diverse pool into your company and the more diverse your employees are different backgrounds, different education, different experiences the more well-rounded our ideas and approach will be for any strategy that we implement. So when it comes to recruiting, I’ve personally loved what a lot of the companies that I’ve worked for have done making sure that they’re looking at different channels to find the right talent.

Tim: 6:35

Yeah, and you know, if you tie that into networking, you know again, the more diverse the talent pool is and the more diverse the organizational structure is. That also helps the young professional from that networking perspective. Certain people aren’t being shut out because of narrow hiring practices. Let’s just put it that way.

Michael: 7:00

Yeah, absolutely, yeah, absolutely. And I’ve seen some of the companies I’ve worked for. They purposely try to make sure that the pool of interviewers are diverse as well. So to your point one, they’ve noticed sometimes there’s unconscious bias. Let’s say, an interviewer comes in interviews with five different people within the company and all five are of one background and the interviewer is a completely different background. There could be a situation of unconscious bias. And then, secondly, they want to make sure it’s a good interview experience, Right? So if I’m interviewing and I’m a black man and I’m getting interviewed by five people who don’t look like me, it may rub me the wrong way and sway my decision if I want to work for that company or not. So look at it from both sides of the employer as well as the potential employee. I’ve seen a lot of companies making sure that the interview work pool is very diverse.

Tim: 7:58

So what are they doing in terms of professional development? That is good Because, again, that’s something that, from a young professional perspective, you start looking for your first job and number one, you’re not always looking at what the benefits of different companies are and those types of things. They’re looking at salary, they’re looking at time off, maybe they’re looking at health insurance, they’re not looking at retirement benefits, not looking at all the other things that some companies are doing. And I think professional development is one of the things that people really should be looking at, because you know we want you know, at least from my perspective, I want to be able to help our people grow so that they can move up and move on and reach the levels that they actually want to teach, or that they actually want to teach or they actually want to get to.

Michael: 8:46

Oh yeah, absolutely so. From a professional development standpoint, basically every company I’ve worked for they offer trainings. There’s always some type of either LinkedIn learnings or Udemy Coursera. There’s usually some free trainings that I can take to get up to speed either in the industry or in my specific function, so I’m always taking trainings. There’s usually a budget for professional development in most of these companies, which has allowed me to go to different conferences. In order for my growth. I can go to conferences and learn from breakout sessions from keynote speakers. I’ve been able to get different certifications. All my companies have paid for it. So I have a Lean Sigma Black Belt certification. I have a contract and commercial management certification. I have a Tableau desktop certification. I have a project management professional certification. I haven’t paid for any of them.

Tim: 9:39

How awesome is that? I mean, those things are crucial and critical for growth, right, and not just because, again, let’s back up. It’s not just professional growth, it’s personal growth. Let’s just say some of the stuff you may never use and you may use it. You may not, but you’re learning new things, and just by learning new things, how that opens other doors for you.

Michael: 10:07

Yeah, absolutely it. It it definitely opens up other doors for you and companies are willing to invest in your personal development. If you, if, if they invest in you and you become a stronger employee and you’re better able to do your job, you can help the company perform better. So there’s generally funds to allow for professional development. You just have to ask the questions. A lot of people in my network are surprised when I tell them all the trainings I’ve taken, all the certifications, all the conferences I’ve been to, I was like, did you ask your manager Generally, if you’re willing to ask the questions, they’re willing to expense it and fund it for you. I think a lot of people are just scared to ask the questions.

Tim: 10:44

They’re willing to expense it and fund it for you. I think a lot of people are just scared to ask the questions. Yeah, and I do want to get into that. I come from a sport background and one of the analogies I always talk about is from a ticket sales perspective, and I can’t remember the specific number. But it costs so much less to renew a season ticket holder than it does to go out and find a new one. And it’s the same thing in businesses and organizations. It costs so much less to treat employees well, to give them the things that they need to be successful, than it is to have to go out and hire somebody and train them so that they can, you know, fit in. You know, to me, it’s about making sure that we’re. It’s about relationships and making sure that we’re taking care of people.

Michael: 11:28

Yeah, no, I absolutely agree.

Michael: 11:30

And on on top of that you’re you’re talking about the cost, but the time as well.

Michael: 11:35

If, if I lose an employee and now I have to go through the interview process, I have to create a rec, then I have to go through the interview process. It could take me three plus months just to interview candidates to find the right candidate, and then it might take me another three to six months for the candidate to ramp up and get comfortable in the role where they can actually start performing, as opposed to if I just kept the employee happy and had them in there, I wouldn’t have that low of nine months to a year where I’m trying to find another candidate to backfill that role and get them up to speed and get them acclimated. So I completely agree and I’m a people manager myself and I try to build a culture of inclusion and try to make sure that employees feel valued and appreciated and informed to keep them happy. So, regardless whether they stay on my team or not, they should be happy within the company and they’re not looking for other opportunities outside of the company.

Tim: 12:37

Right. And here’s the other thing with that, michael, and everything’s about relationships, I don’t care. It’s AI, this AI, that IT, you know what. Everything is going to come down to your personal relationships and those types of connections and, as leaders, you nailed it.

Tim: 12:58

And even if let’s just say, we give this person everything that we can and they’re happy, and at some some point it’s okay to let them go because we may not have a role for them to ascend to, and if you know what, go find it and hopefully in the near future we can have a role for you.

Tim: 13:21

I mean, obviously we’re not trying to push people out the door. Obviously, we want to make sure we can do everything that we possibly can to keep them, but you know, at the end of the day, there’s only so many roles that can be filled and if you’re ready to go, you know what Awesome Congratulations, and that also says something about a company. You know we did everything that we could and there’s that good relationship and we would love to have you back, and then that person is going to go and talk to their friends and their network. You know what this really is a truly good company to work for. They’ve got great people there. They’ve done all of these things in a positive way. They have no negative words at all, and that says a lot.

Michael: 14:05

Yeah, absolutely, and I’ve. I’ve seen both sides of the spectrum. I’ve seen managers who’ve said things behind an employee’s back to block their transfers to other teams because they they had their own intrinsic interest and want to keep a strong player on their team. Obviously the employee found out they’re leaving anyway. So a lot of times I tell people, like, put yourself in your employee’s shoes, like if you were in their same situation you’d want the support from your manager. If there’s no role for them to grow into and get to that next level, you know, support them however you can to make sure they get into that role. Like, don’t don’t try to stifle somebody and just keep them on your team, for for your sake you have to do what’s best for your employees.

Tim: 14:52

So you know I’m also a big, a huge proponent in preparation and, um, as I was going through your book, you know you talk about that a lot, which I really enjoyed. But you talk about interview preparation and then, if you prepare the same way for each company, you set yourself up for failure. What are some examples of different ways that you know Amazon, jp Morgan, chevron that you would need to prepare differently?

Michael: 15:23

Yeah, absolutely so. As an example, amazon has leadership principles. The whole interview process is focused around their leadership principles. Okay, so you need to know all their leadership principles and you need to tie in your stories and be able to tie them into leadership principles and show that you’re a good fit for the culture at Amazon. So that’s, that’s the style that Amazon specifically uses for interviews.

Michael: 15:49

Chevron is big on safety. Their their motto is the the Chevron way and they do things the right way every single time. So a lot of my like interview responses when I was talking with Chevron is being ethical and make sure I’m doing things the right way and how important safety is to me. So I mean, if I, if I went into the Amazon interview, focused on safety and ethical, like like Amazon’s focused on leisure principles, if I went into Chevron, focused on leisure principles, that’s not what Chevron wants. So so, making sure you understand what each company is looking for and then, on top of that, understanding the culture and why you want to work for that specific company.

Michael: 16:33

I’ve seen so many people stumble on why do you want to work for this company? And they’ll just give a generic oh, you’re a big company, you’re the biggest company in oil and gas. You’re the biggest company in tech and it’s like there are a lot of big companies in tech. You could say that for Amazon, google, apple, meta, like that doesn’t show that you want to work for Amazon, so it’s definitely important that you’re catering, you’re understanding what each company is looking for, because everyone’s different, even Google. I haven’t worked for Google. I know some of my friends have told me Google does a lot of case questions and theoretical questions. So if you don’t put in the due diligence to understand how the interview process is for each company, you are going to hurt yourself and it’s going to be detrimental to your opportunities.

Tim: 17:24

Yeah, and again it comes back to that preparation and doing the work, and I think that’s something that and I, you know, I always have focused on young professionals here but and I’m sure that happens a lot more than I would like to think it does but I think from a young professional perspective, they don’t truly understand that process and the competition that they’re up against and and how they have to figure out how to stand out from that competition. I mean cause, even if let’s just say I mean you, you’ve been here, right, you’ve got 35 students in a class. That’s just in that one class. What about the other 15 sections? What about the other 30 institutions in the state minded? And they have to really kind of open their eyes up and say, okay, look, here’s an example.

Tim: 18:26

I used to tell my students that I’m one in a million. They could find somebody to come in here and replace me, like that. It’s my job to figure out how I’m actually different and why I’m here. And when you go out and you start looking, you’ve got to figure those things out too. And it’s hard for them to understand it until they actually get out there and they see. Well, you know, I applied for 15 jobs. I didn’t get any calls back. Well, there’s probably reason for that. Let’s sit down and take a look at it, but that’s happening millions of times every day across the country.

Michael: 19:07

Yeah, absolutely so. I’ve. I have examples, just like you. So, as an example, when I was at Chevron, I would do recruiting for the company at National Black MBA every year. To give you context, the conference National Black MBA has about 10,000 attendees every year. For the procurement supply chain program that I was interviewing for, we had 10 interview slots and we gave one offer. Wow. So you can imagine I have hundreds, if not thousands, of people that are showing interest in this interview. We have 10 slots, we give one offer. It’s definitely competitive.

Michael: 19:47

You have to differentiate yourself. And then to your point. That’s one of the reasons that I do I’m big into professional development. You have to differentiate yourself, professional development. You have to differentiate yourself when I’m applying for roles at different companies and they see okay, not only does he have his undergraduate degree, he also has his MBA. He also has four certifications. He also has work experience at these different companies. Well, now I’ve set myself apart because everybody that’s applying for these roles doesn’t have their graduate degree. Everyone’s applying for these roles doesn’t have these certifications. So I’m continuing to grow and develop and add new skill sets. That’s going to differentiate myself from other candidates. It’s just so important.

Tim: 20:30

Let me ask you about Amazon here for a second, because again, I didn’t want the whole interview to be about your book, but I love the book. I mean, I love it, Thank you. So you talk about leadership principles and one of those principles was disagree and commit and that really resonated with me.

Michael: 20:59

Walk us through what the disagree and commit leadership principle was or is. Yeah, so, and working at Amazon opened my eyes, so I love the experience. But essentially, disagree and commit. You’re empowered to challenge people. So what I’ve seen at other companies before I joined Amazon like you’ll go into a meeting, someone shares an idea, people may feel that they don’t have the confidence or they don’t have the power, the title, the authority to disagree and we’ll sit in a room, someone shares an idea and everyone just kind of nods. It’s groupthink. Everyone wants to be likable. So, even though you may not agree with the idea, I don’t want to challenge someone to rub them the wrong way and then we just move forward with an idea, whether we like it or not, because we just don’t want to rub people the wrong way.

Michael: 22:00

At Amazon, disagree and commit. If you don’t agree with someone’s idea, it doesn’t matter what your title is, it doesn’t matter what your level is. You are empowered to speak up. It’s your responsibility to speak up and there’s nothing wrong with disagreeing with someone. It’s how you go about doing it. So if I don’t agree with someone’s idea I’ve seen this in meetings. But I’ve seen a meeting someone doesn’t agree with the idea and they just say, oh, that’s a dumb idea, like that’s not constructive. Like to just say it’s a dumb idea, like that’s that’s not good.

Michael: 22:34

But at Amazon, if I don’t agree with someone’s idea, I may say, hey, can we take a step back? I have some concerns from a financial standpoint. Do we have the budget to move forward with this? What’s the return on investment? So I’ve shown that I had concerns and I’ve expressed what I’m concerned about. And now that person that proposed the idea, they can go back and do their due diligence and do the analysis from a finance standpoint to make sure we have the budget and calculate what’s the return on investment. Or I may say hey, you know this sounds great. Did you speak to legal? Are we covered from a legal perspective? I don’t know if we can feasibly do this and that person will go back and do the due diligence and make sure they follow up with legal. So you can express your concerns, you can do so in a constructive way and by speaking up and voicing your opinion.

Michael: 23:24

Now we’re making sure that we’re thinking through all different scenarios so we can reach the best decision, the best strategy, which is the value of challenging people. And then the disagree and commit part is I can disagree. Ultimately, when we make a decision, we’re all committed to that decision. So I’ve challenged you, we’ve done the due diligence, you’ve answered my follow-up questions and once we get to a point where we have a go no-go decision and we move forward with that strategy, we’re all committed to that strategy strategy. We’re all committed to that strategy. So it’s for me.

Michael: 24:03

It was very eyeopening how everyone is empowered to speak up and, like you’re, you’re in the room for a reason. There’s a reason you were invited to this meeting. Voice your opinion. Don’t, don’t just sit in the back and be a fly on the wall. I was told. If you’re, if you’re invited to meetings and you’re the person that sits in the back and doesn’t speak up at a certain point, you’re probably going to stop being invited to the meeting. You’re not adding any value. You’re brought to the meeting for a reason. Share your thoughts, speak up.

Tim: 24:30

So much to unpack there, and if young professionals could get that, could get that, that. It’s okay to ask questions, it’s okay to challenge, you know, it truly is okay. And I think there’s a number of things that people need to look at, and I think one of the reasons why this resonated with me is because this is very similar to the whole idea of don’t leave the tent, and that’s my philosophy. We’re going to go in the tent and we’re going to discuss it and we’re going to go back and forth, and back and forth, but once we leave the tent, like you said, this is what it is, and there’s no bad mouth and there’s no talk. This is what the organization is committed to and we’re going to go at it and give it our 100% effort to it, but inside the tent, that’s where the discussion happens, that’s where the back and forth happens and again, there’s a respectful way to do it. This is dumb. It doesn’t, like I said, does not add value at all.

Tim: 25:35

I mean it’s about how you ask the questions. It’s about the entire process of that, and that really requires everybody to understand. They’ve got to put their ego aside because it’s not personal. This is about what’s best for the team, the organization, whatever it is that we’re talking about, and what’s best for them to move it forward and understand as an individual. What’s best for the organization may not be what’s best for you at that time and you have to accept that sometimes it’s gonna be what’s best for you, sometimes it’s not, and that’s part of being a team yeah, absolutely, and I try to.

Michael: 26:13

I try to tell people that all the time I think you bring up a good point, don’t take take it personal. I’ve seen people have strategies, ideas. They’ll present it in a presentation or through a paper. Amazon’s big on paper writing. They don’t do presentations. So I mean different companies have different methods where you present your ideas. But if their idea gets shot down they kind of turn into a shell and now they feel hurt, Like oh, I was attacked and this is nothing on you personally.

Michael: 26:41

We’re trying to figure out what’s best for the business, what’s best for the organization. We only have so much money, we only have so many resources. There are a hundred or a thousand projects we could be working on. We have to figure out what is the most critical items that’s going to add the most value to the customer. You have to figure out what is the most critical items that’s going to add the most value to the customer. So if you don’t provide good justification and support that your idea is the best path forward and what should be implemented and the way it should be implemented, we’re going to push back. But to your point, I tell people all the time you can’t take it personal. This is about business. We’re trying to figure out what’s best for the organization and what’s best for the company. If they turn down your idea, it’s not a knock on you specifically.

Tim: 27:27

And from that perspective as well, it goes back to preparation. So if you’re invited to a meeting on XYZ number one, you need to be prepared to go in and talk about XYZ Number one. You need to be prepared to go in and talk about X, y, z and be able to have that back and forth about. You know. This is my question on why and I don’t see how this really does connect X and Z. Can somebody explain that?

Michael: 28:12

no-transcript. I think preparation is key. So anytime that I’m coming up with an idea or a strategy on how to resolve a problem, I’m reaching out to my team members for feedback. I’m reaching out to some of my colleagues in different functions. I’m asking for feedback from finance, from legal, from product, from engineering, because people will have different perspectives that maybe I didn’t take in consideration and that way I’m better prepared. I’ve talked to people in different functions. I have different mindsets, different thoughts of how to approach it. One of the things I love to Amazon they try to get you to write a FAQ document, frequently asked questions before you even go with your strategy. So I’m already thinking about what questions will they ask when I present this and I’m already thought through how I would answer those questions if they do ask it. So that all goes into preparation. But preparation is key.

Tim: 29:12

You know again. That just made me think about something. You know, the FAQ document. Amazon doesn’t become Amazon by doing things. See their pants fly by night, right? Yeah, because that is so. I mean it’s brilliant, but it’s really common sense. If you’re going to be implementing something new, you know people are going to have questions about it. Let’s figure out what those questions are going to be, that way they can be answered. We can get a little bit deeper and what those questions are going to be. And now, amazon is Amazon, apple is Apple, google is Google, and they don’t just make policies and decisions like that. Oh, let’s give this a try, let’s see if it works. It’s not good business and you know, we as, as individuals, have to to be able to, to to think on that when a different level and that’s where the whole idea of critical thinking comes into play and and how we go about our communication style as well.

Michael: 30:14

Yeah, no, I absolutely agree it’s. It’s so important and, like you said, I think so many people just kind of overlook it, but it can make such a big impact on your career.

Tim: 30:27

So you know we talked about differentiating ourselves. You know what are some ideas or some things that you could tell. You know young professionals to be able to differentiate, to be able to differentiate themselves when they go to those conferences, when they go to networking events, and you know you’re just having conversations with people.

Michael: 30:50

Yeah. So I would say a few things. So one if you’re going to a conference, I tell people to go in with a strategy. So it goes to what we were discussing with preparation. So, like I said, I’ve been to conferences searching for a job. I’ve been to conferences doing recruiting and I’ve seen at conferences people just aimlessly walking around. They have no plan. They’ll talk to different companies what do you have for me? What kind of roles do you have? And it’s a terrible strategy Like why did you even invest your time and money to go to this conference? You didn’t do the research of what companies would be there, what roles they have.

Michael: 31:28

If you go into a conference with a strategy and say and generally, I’d like to go in with a mindset of a top five companies, so I’ll have five companies that I know I want to speak to and I’m doing research on what roles they have available. And when the conference doors open, I’m making an effort to go to those specific companies and talk to them and show hey, I’m really interested in your procurement supply chain program. I know you have the leadership development program. I think I’m a great fit. I’m an MBA student at Carnegie Mellon. I’m focusing on strategy and supply chain. I’d love to talk to you more. So it shows that I’ve done my due diligence. I came to this conference specifically interested in that company, in that role, and I’m saying how I’m a good fit for that role, as opposed to just walking around and I hear people like, oh yeah, I’m going to this conference, I’m trying to talk to 15 companies, 20 companies. If you throw out too wide of a net, you’re not going to get anything. If you focus a little bit more and narrow down your search and know exactly who you want to talk to and what roles you want, I think you’ll stand out a lot more at conferences. So I think that’s a good way to differentiate yourself. Show up early. If a conference is two days, three days, I’ve seen people walk up to my table on the second day, the third day, oh yeah, I’m really interested in your roles. Well, we’ve already filled all the interview slots. So if you were really interested, you would have showed up the first day, up the first day. I think it speaks volumes that you show up early and the doors open at nine and I’m talking to the companies I want to talk to at 9.30, 10. So I think that speaks volumes. And then I’d say at networking events, the way to differentiate yourself, just put yourself out there.

Michael: 33:15

I see a lot of people at networking events. They already know a few people and they kind of gravitate towards a group that they already know and don’t really interact or try to meet new people. I try to make it a point if I’m at a networking event and I know people, obviously I’ll say hi, I’m not going to just completely ignore them and act like I don’t know who they are, or they’ll act like I don’t know who they are, but I’ll make it a point to try to break away from the people I know and try to meet someone new. That’s the purpose of the event, so that I can build my network and meet new individuals. But I’ll already, before I get to a network, I’ll have in mind things that I’ll want to talk about, depending on what the networking event is. If I’m at a networking event that’s cyber security focused, because I work in the cyber security field, I’ll have topics in mind that are cyber security focused, that that I know I can talk about.

Michael: 34:08

Or if I’m just at a general networking event, like I’ll, I’ll think of all right, what’s the? The last few things that I’ve done the last couple weeks, a couple months. Where have I traveled? To what you know what would be good conversation starters. So it’s not an awkward moment where we’re just standing there looking at each other and not saying anything. So the hope is that, organically, we’ll have a good conversation but already have talking points in my back pocket that I can bring up to keep the conversation going if there’s a lull. But that, like I said, that all goes into preparation and it’s a good way to help differentiate myself and make me stand out.

Tim: 34:49

Networking events. For me as an introvert, it’s death. I mean I hate going to them. But here’s the other thing as a professional, I understand that those are some things that you have to do, right, and you can’t go in. Oh, this is death. I’ve got to go talk to people. You actually have to go in like a professional and do the things that professionals do. And so I’m kind of like you.

Tim: 35:16

If I go to an event and I know people there, I say you know what, I’ll catch up with you later. I’m kind of like you. If I go to an event and I know people there, I say you know what, I’ll catch up with you later. I’m going to try, I’ve got to go and try and talk to this person, or I want to talk to that person. We can catch up later, afterwards, grab a drink or what have you, but let me go do whatever first. So, again, like you said, you’re not just blowing them off, but you’re there for specific reasons. And again, I like your whole idea of preparing and having things in your back pocket that you can talk about ahead of time. What do you think about elevator? You know so-called elevator speeches, elevator talks?

Michael: 35:57

I think elevator pitches are fantastic. I would say in my opinion those are better for conferences as opposed to a networking event. At a networking event I’d want just a little bit more organic conversation At a conference, if there are thousands of people at a conference that are all trying to talk to companies and get job opportunities, you may only have a quick 30 seconds where you can make an impression on a recruiter, a company, to get further conversations about the potential of interviewing for a role. So if you’re not prepared, it’s going to be a bad reflection on you. So I still remember my elevator pitch. I practiced it so much when I was in grad school. I would go. I’d say hey, my name is Michael Morgan. I’m a first year MBA student at the Temple School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. I’m concentrating in operation strategy and organizational behavior. My previous work experience is at JP Morgan. I’m greatly interested in your supply chain procurement program and I’d love to talk to you about it further.

Tim: 37:00

There you go.

Michael: 37:00

That’s personal. Yeah, and in a 30 second I’ve given them hey, this is my background. I worked at JP Morgan. I’m concentrating in operations, I’m interested in this program, I’m going to this school. And now it just sparked so many questions like oh, you’re going to Carnegie Mellon, how do you like in Pittsburgh? What made you decide you want to concentrate in operations and strategy? What makes you interested in wanting to work at Chevron? The ball just gets rolling from there.

Michael: 37:27

But if I would have walked up to Chevron’s booth and just said, hey, I’m Michael, what do you guys have to offer? It completely changes the conversation. The recruiters will look at me like this person clearly isn’t prepared. They, I don’t think they’re interested in chevron. They don’t even know what we have to offer. They haven’t done any research. Like they haven’t pulled me in with their elevator pitch. And they may talk to me for a minute and then they’ll move on to the next candidate.

Michael: 37:57

Yeah, but if you have a good elevator pitch and I’ve I’ve experienced this you have a good elevator pitch, you can end up talking to that person for 30 minutes or an hour.

Michael: 38:05

Yeah, so it could be the difference of a one or two minute conversation versus a 30 minute conversation and that could really impact whether or not you get the interview or you even get the job right. One of the things I tell people there are a lot of when a role is open, more than one person has the skill set to do the job. People aren’t just hiring who can do the job, they’re hiring who can they see themselves working with on a day to day basis. So if you’re able to have a good conversation, if you’re at a conference with thousands of people and you have a recruiter or an employee at a company remember you specifically because you had a great conversation for 30 minutes, that’s going to help you stand out. Exactly so it makes and, like I said, if you don’t have that elevator pitch down, you may not even open up the door for that 30 minute conversation. So it’s definitely important.

Tim: 39:00

And let’s take that, you know, one step further. You know, from that networking perspective, right, you know, obviously elevator pitch, I think, are critical, I think you need to be flexible with it and, you know, depending on who you’re talking to, where you’re at, you know, throw this in, take that out, throw that in whatever. But networking isn’t just about you going up and talking to people. It’s about building relationships and connections, right, it’s about finding something that you connect with that other person so that the next time that you either reach out to them or the next time your paths cross Michael, you know you talked about being Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh Did you go to that restaurant that I told you to? Did you ever go to? I don’t know? Pick a restaurant? Or how’s your wife, you know? You told me that she was, you know, starting a business or kids or whatever it is. And it’s about building those connections and building that relationship. It’s not just about a one-way transaction of you trying to sell yourself.

Michael: 40:10

Yeah, no, absolutely. And I tell people all the time. I try to find commonalities. So maybe we went to the same alma mater, maybe we’ve lived in the same cities, maybe we have the same hobbies we like hiking, we like hobbies, we like hiking, we like running, we like traveling. But this way, when I follow up with somebody and I’ve seen this like you go to a conference, after the conference people will send you an email like oh, it was a pleasure meeting you.

Michael: 40:36

I hope we keep in touch. And it’s so generic that they could copy and paste that to any company, any employee that they met during the conference. But if they have a tailored message based off our conversation, all is so great to meet you. I always love meeting a fellow Penn State alumni, always so great to meet a fellow person that loves to travel. And I hope your trip to San Diego goes well, because we talked about the fact that I was traveling to San Diego or find something to build that connection. It goes so much further as opposed to just an Eric. Hey, so great to meet you. I hope we can keep in touch. I’d love to work at your company. It’s a world of difference.

Tim: 41:22

Exactly, and here’s an example for me recently, I mean just recently, so in November, I went to a networking event and there was a CEO there who I knew. Of him, I didn’t know that he was going to be there, and I started talking to him and we literally talked just him and I, one-on-one, for about an hour and a half, which was great. I mean, that was never my intention, and we got to talk about some things. And what I found out about him is he raises exotic birds.

Michael: 41:57

That’s different.

Tim: 41:58

Very different. So what do you think I did? I took mental notes, notes, and then afterwards because what I do is I write it down I put it into their contact so so that you know no matter what I’ve got it next day I sent him an email. It was great talking to you, um, and he lives in tampa and this was like right after the hurricanes came through. Hope the birds are going to be okay. You know whatever.

Tim: 42:23

I was at a conference in January and I knew he was going to be there, but it’s one of those, you know, never expecting that our paths were going to cross there. And he was with a bunch of people and I was walking, getting ready to walk past him, and he told that group of people, hey, hold on a second. And he came over and started talking to me and started asking me about some of the things that we talked about, and we talked for 15 or 20 minutes while he left. There’s other people over there and that’s all because of a connection, all because of a little conversation, and now I’m hoping that you know there’s something that we’re gonna be able to do together here soon.

Michael: 43:06

That’s all it is. It’s about that connection. Yeah, absolutely, that’s a fantastic story. And then I do the same thing you said with taking notes. So I mean, we have our phones at our disposal. You could put it in the details for the contact, you can put it in your notes section of your phone. But if I have a conversation with somebody, it’s difficult. At a networking event or a conference, you can meet multiple people. So if I take notes, I can put specific things that I talked about with different people this person is a Yankees fan, this person likes to run, this person likes to travel, this person’s also alumni from Penn state and that way, when I follow up with them, I can say specific things about our conversation. But, like you said, it’s it’s hard to at least for me to just remember every, every nuance for every person. So taking notes is a great way to go about it.

Tim: 44:04

And when you’re talking to them you’re not with your phone out.

Tim: 44:08

Oh no, you know it’s, it’s great. And then you, essentially what I do is is after that, you know the very first thing I do when it’s over with I I take half hour, 45 minutes and I I go through. Um you, either if they’ve given me a card, I go through and write this stuff down, or now you know you can, there’s the electronic business cards. I leave those up. It’s a lot easier for me to go in and just jot some things down. But but it’s so critical to to remember some of those things, some of those connections you know later on down the road, some of those things, some of those connections you know later on down the road.

Michael: 44:43

Yeah, I, I. I used to take the the same route as you. So when I feel like handing out business cards is kind of declined a bit, but when people were handing out business cards, I would take a pen out right on the back of the person’s business card. So I have notes specifically for that person. But, like you said, now there’s a lot of digital business cards or people just want to scan the QR code on LinkedIn. So now I’m trying to transition more to writing notes in my phone. But either way, whether you’re writing it down on a business card or in your phone, like there has to be a way for you to kind of capture those notes so that you can remember that person specifically for you to kind of capture those notes so that you can remember that person specifically.

Tim: 45:26

So in your book, you know, you talk about a number of different networking types of things that you did and connections that you built. What’s your favorite networking connection that you’ve made throughout your career? Because you talk about the time you were at a baseball game in Houston. You talk about the time you were at the barbershop, A couple of others that I’m sure I’ll remember here in 20 minutes. But those types of things I love those things, because the world is huge but it’s so small. So what’s your favorite networking connection thing that’s ever happened to you?

Michael: 46:06

I’ll tell you my favorite, probably when I was an undergrad at Penn State, and at that time, honestly, I didn’t even fully understand the power of networking because I was still an undergrad student. But I’m a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and at the time at Penn State I was also president of an organization called Black Male Leadership Symposium. So I put together an event on campus and I built a relationship with JP Morgan and I brought in a representative from JP Morgan to speak to the organizations on best practices, what they’re looking for in candidates, how you can stand out. So it’s a good way for the students to learn, but it’s a good way for JP Morgan to identify talent. After the event it was such a great event I had someone from JP Morgan reach out who wasn’t a part of the event, but they heard about the event I put together and he happened to be a member of my fraternity. So I’d never met this person before. But just based off the fact that we’re in the same fraternity and I put together this event on campus, he reached out to me. So you know, we started talking. He’s like hey, I got your information, I heard that you put on this event, uh, and he was like. He basically said hey, would, would JP Morgan be something of interest to you? And obviously I’m a student, I’m looking to graduate and get full-time opportunities. So I told him, yes, of course, jp Morgan is one of the most well-known companies in the world. So I was able to talk with him. He took my resume, he helped tailor my resume for the role. He helped me prepare for the interview.

Michael: 47:45

Then I ended up getting an offer with JP Morgan. He connected me with another member of the fraternity who received the same role, the same offer in the same location, because I moved to Delaware. I’d never been to Delaware before. So now I have a friend in Delaware and a roommate before I even moved there to a brand new city. I’ve never been before. So now I have a friend in Delaware and a roommate before I even moved there to a brand new city I’ve never been before. And when I get to Delaware there’s a network of people in my fraternity that work in Delaware, that work in New York, that work in Ohio, that work in Florida and we would have calls for the entire fraternity of Kappa Alpha Psi once a quarter, for the entire fraternity of Kappa Alpha Psi once a quarter. So now I have a support system.

Michael: 48:27

This all started off of one connection because I set up an event on campus and I was connected with one brother, matthew Flamer. My connection with Matthew Flamer is opened up the door where I was able to interview for JP Morgan, get the role at JP Morgan and have a support system and a roommate and a friend in a brand new city. I’ve never been to all off of one connection. So for me it was crazy, it was eye-opening. When I came out of school I was like, oh, this is networking. Like I probably wouldn’t have started my career at JP Morgan if it wasn’t for my ability to network and it’s just so happened to work out where basically every role at every company I’ve had some type of connection that helped me get my foot in the door. Even today I work at Netscope in cybersecurity. My manager today. I used to work for him at Amazon.

Michael: 49:23

I wasn’t looking for opportunities at Netscope At the time. I was working at Walmart and he reached out to me but because I kept him in my network he said there was an opportunity on his team and he thought I’d be a great fit and I was able to make my transition to Netscope. A lot of people ask me like how did you get your foot in the door in cybersecurity? It’s so hard to get in there. Tenetsco A lot of people ask me like how did you get your foot in the door in cybersecurity? It’s so hard to get in there? It was my network. I didn’t know I was going to be in cybersecurity two years ago, but having the right people in my network opened up the right doors. But yeah, absolutely I would say that situation when I was at Penn State and making that transition to JP Morgan, that’s my favorite networking story.

Tim: 50:04

That’s awesome. And again, like you said, if that doesn’t happen, you may not be sitting here. Yeah, exactly, that was the start of my career.

Tim: 50:17

And it’s funny, as you’re talking about that. You know, at one point in my life I did a ton of traveling and the joke in the family was you can never, I could never go to an airport where I didn’t run into somebody I knew and that was actually true. I mean, it didn’t matter what city I was in, it didn’t matter, you know, what connection or where I was going there was. Always I always ran into somebody who I knew, and and and again.

Tim: 50:48

The world is huge, but it’s but it’s also small, and we have to remember as, as professionals, people talk and if, if you’re if, if you treat people right, they’re going to say good things, and if you don’t treat people right, they’re going to say bad things. And that’s when you start finding out well, I can’t, I’m not getting promoted, I’m not getting other job offers, I’m not getting those things that I want. You know, part of it is you need to think about how, how you are treating other people and how you’re coming across, and are you actually surrounding yourself with people that are going to help you get to where you want to be?

Michael: 51:31

No, that’s uh. I couldn’t have worded it better myself. That’s one of the things I talk about with people all the time is personal brand. How do you want to be perceived when you walk in the room, when you’re part of a project, when you’re part of a team? But, like you said, the way that you treat other people is going to be a reflection of yourself, the way that you perform. That’s why, any team, any project, any initiative I’m working on, I’m always putting my best foot forward.

Michael: 51:58

I hate the term. I don’t know if you’ve heard of quiet quitting, oh, yeah. Yeah, I hate when I hear, hear that where people are like, oh, I’m not happy, here, I’m doing the bare minimum, like that just makes you look bad, like I would never do the big. You never know if you’re gonna see these people again. You can see them at another team in the company. You can see them at another company altogether. There are people I worked with at chevron that I also worked with at amazon. There are people I worked with at Amazon that I’m also working with at Netscope. You never know when you’re going to cross paths again. That perception, it’s everything.

Tim: 52:33

You’re either in or you’re not. If you don’t want to be in, that’s fine, perfectly fine. Don’t be in, but be a professional about it.

Michael: 52:43

Exactly.

Tim: 52:43

That’s part of the thing. So you know we talked a little bit about your book. Really, tell us about your book and what it’s about, and you know the impetus of that, because I think it’s a phenomenal resource, you know, especially for young professionals, but really for anybody who is questioning how to move forward or maybe stuck in their professional career.

Michael: 53:06

Yeah, absolutely so. My book is called the Power of Networking. The core and the heart of it is obviously around building and maintaining relationships and, to the point that we made earlier, it’s an impact on your professional career. It provides value in your personal life. But I also get into a lot of other areas. So I get into how to differentiate yourself in interviews, how to excel in your role, how to advance in your career, how to transition from an individual contributor to a people manager, how to navigate workplace challenges. A people manager, how to navigate workplace challenges.

Michael: 53:45

So I get into a lot of different areas that are focused on your career, growth and personal development. But the heart of the book is focused on building and maintaining relationships and how that can open up so many doors for you and the benefits of doing so. So the book is available on all platforms. I have the e-book, I have the paperback, I have the audio book. So whether you want to buy on Amazon, you want to listen on Spotify, you want to read on Barnes Noble, it’s available. But, yeah, that’s the core of the book.

Tim: 54:17

And again, I love it, I love the stories in it. It really connects the dots and really does hit home and I again I think from a young professional perspective it’s a great resource. Do you have a second or third book in mind? Are you working on? Maybe working on, maybe not? Or one and done? What do you think?

Michael: 54:38

I’m still thinking through that. A lot of people have asked me that because of the success of the first book, so they’re already, uh, asking for the second. I’m still I’m still in the ideation phase to try to figure out what I’d want to write next. Uh, but I’d love to continue to write more and publish more books that’s, that’s awesome.

Tim: 54:55

I, I was a one and done um, I’m never, never say never, but where I’m at right now, I’m one. I would much rather talk to people. But anyway, where can people find you if they want to work with you? Cause, cause, you’re doing really good, good things in the space and I think you got a lot to offer people and helping them get to where they want to be.

Michael: 55:20

Yeah, absolutely so. So people can reach out to me on LinkedIn. So my name on LinkedIn is Michael Morgan PMP. I put PMP at the end of my name because I have the PMP certification. Uh, so that’s the easy way to find me. Uh, I have my own website as well. So Michael V, as in Victor, Michael V, Morgancom. Uh, so you can go on my website and then off my website. I have a contact me form so you can send me a message through my website, or you can connect with me on social media through my website. But those are probably the two best channels that you can reach out to me.

Tim: 55:53

And I’ll put those links in the show notes, as well as links to your book as well, for everybody. But, michael, thank you so much for taking some time and talking with us today. I think you provide outstanding value for the Speaking With Confidence community and I can’t thank you enough for that, oh, thank you.

Michael: 56:11

I appreciate the opportunity to be a guest on your show. I love Speaking With Confidence, so it’s an honor to be here speaking with you today.

Tim: 56:18

Thanks, bud, I appreciate it. We’ll talk to you soon All right, sounds good. Be sure to visit speakingwithconfidencepodcastcom to get your free ebook Top 21 Challenges for Public Speakers and how to Overcome them. You can also register for the Forum for Public Speaking. Always remember your voice has the power to change the world. We’ll talk to you next time, take care.