Asking for Help Helped Me
 

One of the challenges in networking is everybody thinks it's making cold calls to strangers. Actually, it's the people who already have strong trust relationships with you -- who know you're dedicated, smart, a team player -- who can help you. -- Reid Hoffman, Linkedin

Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are. -- Bernice Johnson Reagon

I remember a few years ago when I was in job transition after a 20-year career at an amazing charity. I wanted to reinvent myself and it was VERY hard for me to make the decision to leave. When you run a charity, you are a bit like a politician. You are a known entity in the community, you have a board, a staff, tens of thousands of children you work with, you shake hands and kiss babies a lo --- and I loved that.

And if you are like me, you might feel quite familial with the people you have worked with so long. Leaving your tribe, out in the cold, financial insecurity creeps over you like a icy snow-covered blanket.

Need Your Help was the subject line of my email. I was a wreck. It was one thing selling the charity, but selling myself and trying to explicitly state what I wanted in my next career was much more challenging than I thought it would be. "I would like to make a move and here's what I am looking for..." were some of the hardest words to write.

My cheery overly self-confident entrepreneurial persona was flipped on her head. Who am I without my work? Will I find something that feels right to me again?

Did I need to segment myself off into the category of: marketing, sales/BD, marketing/communications, social media, author/speaker, trainer/facilitator to fit some corporate mold?

But the calls and emails came in and gratitude started flowing through me. People were so generous with introductions and a willingness to sit down and meet me for coffee. They had been where I was at. I realized I was not alone nor was I the first person to transition from a job. I found mentors and sponsors (advocates) in unexpected ways. One great leader introduced me to three VCs for their portfolio companies without ever meeting me (we did have a great call). One woman told me not to take the first thing or grab the first bar. To look at myself as a trapeze artist and the magic happens "in between."

Asking for help, helped me personally and helped me help others more. Helped me understand that there are transitions in life and that it's okay to ask for help. It taught me humility, more empathy for others experiencing the same, and to have hope especially in job and big life transitions. It showed me that we are only as sick as our secrets and to not isolate. I felt much more connected to people as a human being versus a human doing and on the other side of it all, know to pay it forward. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.












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