time to take a shot: get connected!

May 30

“you miss a 100% of the shots you do not take.”

— Wayne Gretzky, hockey Hall of Famer

So, have an unshakable believe in yourself and start shooting at your goals. By now you have drafted a rock-solid plan by having set your SMART goal and having conducting an extensive amount of research on the person you are interested to connect with. Using my suggested strategies such as the “3 Ws for the win, the solid online channel research framework and the creation of a mentor setcard” have given you a blueprint with detailed action steps on how to find the right mentor who is going to help you to achieve your SMART goal. Thus, get ready to shot right at it and to get connected. With your eyes on the prize and the prize being to secure the sought-after meeting that you have been craving for a while now.

many of us tend to postpone the execution of decisions waiting for the “right time”! but how exactly do we define a timing to be right?

I truly challenge the notion of “timing”, because there is always more that we can do and more that we can research. Having done your pre-work is pivotal that goes without a question, but there comes a point in time when having done a certain amount of research, action has to take over. When taking a shot at any opportunity it is important to set yourself a deadline on when to execute the action. To be precise, the day you start your research you are already giving yourself a date by when it is supposed to be completed.

Get in the mindset of “taking action” by appreciating any action that you have successfully taken in the past and that has resulted in a positive outcome. This is going to motivate you to pull through in case of any insecurities. So, how do you get in that mindset?

pro tip:

Consider taking a second to look back on everything that you have accomplished through action steps taken in the past. Write down 3 things within last 6 months where you have grown based on a decision you made backed with action. Look at:

Any value that you have created at your job, at university, at your free-time activities?
Is there any new skill that you have acquired and used to change a situation?
Have you optimized any daily routine due to action and as a result improved your lifestyle?

Defining your goal, tracking your progress and the action taken is crucial when it comes to personal development. Forbes recently quoted a research study on goal achievement that emphasized that by merely writing a goal down a whopping 42% of participants of the study are more likely to achieve their goal.

Simultaneously, tracking your progress is going to enable you to fully grasp that at any given point in time you may have already made the decision to just take a shot, a shot to change, a shot to progress, a shot to learn and a shot to just do it! Thus, enabling you to get ahead with a positive attitude towards any goal that you are now aiming to achieve.

When getting connected with a successful individual it is pivotal to remember two aspects:

Bing clear on your SMART GOAL!
Selecting the right mentor by creating a shortlist of successful individuals, who are in alignment (career, know-how, expertise, availability) with the goal you want to achieve.

The mere question that remains to be addressed now is how to get connected?

who & how to reach out: 3 channels to focus on!

Utilize these three channels to get in touch with your desired mentor:

Direct and indirect connections
LinkedIn Premium
Corporate Email

1. the direct & indirect connections – also known as “the who do you know”

The power of your network is crucial to building your career. In last week’s minutes I have introduced my concept of the mentor setcard, a strategy to identify the right mentor based on 3 different connection targets (direct, indirect, and inspirational).

building a long-term network of strong business profiles is your enabler to flying extra high on career achievements, so start early!

Thus, when it comes to getting in touch and asking a mentor to work with you, your network (= direct connections) or indirect connections (= introductions to individuals via your direct connections) are the two most important contacts to consider reaching out to.

2. LinkedIn Premium bundled with a value proposition is your way to go

A LinkedIn Premium subscription is worth a trial, once you have identified a successful individual you would like to ask for career advice, yet knowing that the short word count when connecting is not going to cut it for you. Sign up for it, test it and try to see if it works for you. It will enable you to send direct messages with a high word count, thus giving you the possibility to not only contact a desired individual, but to provide insights on a topic that the individual is related to or a project that you have worked on which could be interesting. Remember it is key to providing value when reaching out to a successful individual that you do not know yet. We will cover the topic of “how to draft a value proposition” in next week’s minutes (= step 6 of the 10-step Mentorship Masterplan). Any individual is more like to respond to a value proposition rather than being solely asked for something. Just a side note but a total of

39% of LinkedIn users are utilizing LinkedIn Premium!

Personally, I value the power of Linkedin Premium, yes it comes with a price tag attached, yet it has allowed me to connect and exchange on a meaningful level in deep career guidance conversations with individuals. Thus, I consider the attached price tag as an investment in my future self.

3. Using corporate E-mail communication through introduction

Unless you know the person, approaching an individual via a corporate E-mail requires the introduction of another connection. Asking someone who knows the individual to introduce you digitally via E-mail increases the likelihood of your E-mail being answered.

it’s got to be a short, sharp & simple method of communication

Focus on 3 things when drafting a short, sharp, and simple E-mail to get connected:

Brief introduction
- Who are you? Focus on your background and experience.
- How do you know the person? Through a contact? Through anything you have read, watched or an event attended?
Unique value proposition:
- What have you read?
- Worked on? Or know that could be of value to the person you are reaching out to?
Precise call to action: Kindly inquire whether the individual could spare 30min of their busy schedule to catch up with you via a digital coffee (use Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet up).

The most important thing when drafting this E-mail is to maximize the value proposition to garner the readers attention! It’s a hit and a miss, which means it really is the make it or break it when it comes to landing an exchange with the desired individual! That is why we are going to outline this in detail in next week’s Monday minutes.

Monday Minutes are my personal & independent reflections for inspirational purposes only. They are not professional career advice, they simply outline my experience & advice that has been shared with me and helped me personally.

Carolyne Denzler