Nowadays, more people attest to how important networking is for their careers. Whether they want to pivot to a different field or have been working towards that job promotion, networking has been the secret sauce to their success.
From job coaches, mentors, to very successful entrepreneurs and individuals, networking changed the game for them. But there are still a number of people who are not convinced that networking is important.
They either think that networking’s not the norm to do in their career field, that it’s not worth the time and effort, or that it doesn’t apply to introverted individuals.
For Global CFO Founder Robert Bendetti, networking can turn your whole career around. Robert is the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Life Cycle Engineering (LCE). He is also a speaker, author, and change management leader with over 20 years of growth and leadership experience.
If you’re that person who would rather stay at their desks all day long and catch up on work instead of taking the time to talk with their colleagues, Robert will not only inspire you with his success but he will also change your mindset about networking.
According to Robert, networking isn’t something you do while expecting something in return. Whether it be a job position you’ve been pining for or a referral from your connections. Networking is a way to create meaningful connections with people, either in the same field as you are or in a totally different field, to learn many things from one another. From work ethic, personal development, to success stories that will forever inspire you and other people. It’s also a way to create a personal brand, become a problem solver or a resource matchmaker, and more.
Join us as Robert shares great advice about his success at work, give you tips about networking (whether you’re an introvert or extrovert), and more. With hosts, wealth manager Lee Michael Murphy, and career advisor Sergio Patterson, tune in to this week’s episode of The Free Retiree Show.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to be successful in a competitive work environment
- Top tips to network successfully as an introvert or extrovert
- The right mindset to network yourself
[00:00:00] Lee Michael Murphy: Welcome in to the Free Retiree Show. Your go-to podcast for your career, your money, or we help you avoid the big mistakes and where we learn from people that have done amazing things. I’m your host wealth manager, Lee Michael Murphy. And I’m alongside my friend, my colleague and Silicon valley vet, Sergio Patterson.
[00:00:21] Sergio Patterson: What is up everyone?
[00:00:23] Lee Michael Murphy: You are listening to a career advancement edition of the Free Retiree Show. For today’s episode, we’re going to be talking about the importance of networking. If you’re thinking networking really isn’t that important in my current job, maybe because you’re an engineer, a teacher, government employee, or even an accountant, that’s the mindset that we want to help you change today.
This is an all too common perspective and we need to break the myth. So Serg, your thoughts on this networking valuable invaluable. Where are you going with this?
[00:00:58] Sergio Patterson: Yeah, it’s pointless. You don’t need
to network [00:01:00] kidding. Kidding. Obviously know networking is literally the foundation of everything, especially in this day and age. I work in Silicon valley and without networking, You’re just putting yourself at a disadvantage.
almost every job I’ve gotten within Silicon valley has been because of networking and using my connections and building and continue to grow. So I think like anyone listening, don’t be scared to send that cold email, that cold message connect with people. It’s
[00:01:24] Sergio Patterson: important.
[00:01:24] Lee Michael Murphy: Yeah, I totally agree.
But once you say that most people you’ve met in Silicon valley, how often did they really do their networking? you’ve been at Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, do you think it’s priority for most people that are there?
I think it is for most people that are there, but I think they are the outlier.
[00:01:39] Sergio Patterson: I don’t think they’re the norm. When you’re in those types of companies, it’s just, you have to network or you will just struggle on it. You just won’t fit in the culture. But I think that’s not the norm. I think what are the more like the outliers? Most people do not understand the importance of networking.
[00:01:54] Lee Michael Murphy: Absolutely. So for today’s episode, we have a fabulous resource for you. We have CFO Robert [00:02:00] Bendetti . Robert is a CFO at lifecycle engineering, founder of the global CFO council. He is a speaker author change management leader with over 20 years of growth and leadership experience. And he’s been a VP of finance at Gailey and Lord, management positions at Lockheed Martin Hilton hotels.
So he’s just got a great wealth of experience and he’s a super young CFO, super successful. He’s done some big things in his life, and we’re just blessed that we have a great resource like this that actually gets networking. I was actually privileged enough to listen to a presentation that he did about networking.
And I was just like, wow, we got to get this guy out on the podcast talking about this. so for today’s episode, we’re going to talk about the importance of it, what it means to your career. Even if you think maybe it’s not that valuable. And we’re also going to get tips from Robert on how you can actually effectively network.
Maybe you’re a little shy. Maybe you don’t feel comfortable with it, but these are things that, Sergio and I have seen through our careers. our mentors have taught us the value of this, and we [00:03:00] finally got a great resource that is going to teach you some amazing things. So we’re going to go a quick break, but before we do so make sure you smash that like button, share us with your friends.
And if you have a question for us, financial related, career-related legal relate. Or even a question for Robert, actually, she to ask@thefreeretiree.com. We’re going to take a quick break, but when we come back, we’re sitting down with Robert Bendetti.
Welcome back into the free retiree show. We’re sitting down with Robert Bendetti. Robert, how are you doing
[00:03:35] Robert Bendetti: good evening Lee and Sergio. It is a pleasure to be here.
[00:03:41] Sergio Patterson: Thank you for
[00:03:41] Robert Bendetti: joining the show.
[00:03:43] Lee Michael Murphy: So tell the listeners a little bit about what you do.
[00:03:48] Robert Bendetti: I am the chief financial officer of an engineering company.
That’s headquartered here in the US. And so I’m the head bean counter. I’m the guy who kind of translates data [00:04:00] into information and make sure that the bills get paid on time.
[00:04:05] Sergio Patterson: So.
[00:04:07] Lee Michael Murphy: Give the listeners, the rundown of like where your career progression was. I know right now you’re at a pretty high level company.
You’re the CFO there. And like we mentioned in the intro, you are a relatively young CFO, so you must be doing something. Right. But why don’t you give us your history from your words of where you’ve been and how you progressed?
[00:04:25] Robert Bendetti: Sure. I’ve always done corporate accounts. So some accountants do public accounting.
That’s like CPA work, doing your taxes. That wasn’t my path. undergrad in finance loved corporate accountant type work. So went to work for a big company, Lockheed Martin, and then just sort of worked my way up, sort of probably the same way you guys did Lee and Sergio, just working hard, putting in the extra hours, got an MBA, took a promotion, then got a master’s degree in accounting.
So another promotion, the big CFO’s you gotta be a CPA. So I went after that became a certified public accountant, got another promotion. And then just sort of been on the [00:05:00] path of progressively larger organizations in different industries and doing the corporate accounting stuff.
[00:05:06] Lee Michael Murphy: Serg. Did you hear promotion like 20 times in there?
[00:05:09] Sergio Patterson: Yeah. that’s impressive. That is very impressive. You also called this is the second time you called them young. You’re really trying to kiss up right now. I hear it’s smart. It’s strategic. It’s very
[00:05:19] Lee Michael Murphy: smart. I know I have to, but you know, Robert, I mean, you’ve done something right. Generally CFO’s quite a bit older than you.
So like, how do you think how you got to this point? what’s the secret.
[00:05:30] Robert Bendetti: Well, I’m bald and I used to wear glasses. So look older. I really did look five or 10 years. I’ve looked at this age for like the past 20 years. So I think that helps people just thought, honestly, so that’s strategy, number one, like stanza, right?
Don’t wear super fashionable stuff. If you’re young, wear some glasses and,dress up a little bit and people just assume you’re older and you can apply for jobs. You’re not necessarily qualified for,
[00:05:59] Sergio Patterson: I mean, [00:06:00] yeah. I mean,
before we get into net, I mean, I’d love the promotion. Yeah. that’s obviously a theme in your career.
And I think that’s one thing people always ask it’s like, how do you rise up? And some of these tough corporate environments, like any words of wisdom
[00:06:14] Robert Bendetti: there? Yeah. Two things. I’m married really well. And so I’ve got like this perfect home unit and my wife has my back. And really loved kind of the parental unit type stuff.
So my house was on kind of things was on lockdown. And so my kids were taken care of. My wife is independent and she was all excited when I take like the hard job, the difficult project I volunteered to travel, she was like, yeah, go get it. So that I think is really important. if you don’t have a great partner and equal man, it’s just nothing but headaches and I’ve had nothing but smiles and encouragement.
So thatthat’s huge. and then secondly, I didn’t just waste that opportunity. I actually did say yes when the terrible project needed a volunteer, I took [00:07:00] it the worst, location needed some help. I flew out a really tough job in a weird part of the country or world. I did it.
I didn’t know somebody, I didn’t go to some big fancy school. I didn’t have some path laid out. So I had to kind of hustle my way and kinda make away. And that’s how it worked for me.
[00:07:20] Lee Michael Murphy: Yeah. So you showed through hard work sacrifice, and you stood out and they say he’s a good-looking bald man.
And, it doesn’t age. Yeah. There you go. Promotion
[00:07:30] Robert Bendetti: right there.
And key point, not a straight path. Right. What I just described that was not straight. It was zigging and zagging, I think in sailing like ticking and attacking herself, there was no straight path. I was just trying to move forward if I was going to fall, I fall forward.
And so, I just moved a little bit forward more than I fell back in it so far it’s worked. Yeah.
[00:07:52] Sergio Patterson: One thing we
can’t understate and how important it is to raise your hand for those like, projects that don’t seem [00:08:00] glamorous. That’s helped me in the past too. Cause a lot of the times those projects are the ones that keep the business running
and
there might not be that glamorous.
It might not be, top of the news, for the company, but you’ll get credit and like it’ll pay off I, that, that stood out to me from what I just heard.
[00:08:16] Robert Bendetti: Yeah.
And the cool thing is I found out is you take the really horrible assignment. Like the expectation is that you are going to fail. And so if you just do okay, everybody thinks you’re awesome.
So it’s like, you can’t really lose here.
[00:08:30] Lee Michael Murphy: So truth. Right. And that’s right there. Take the pressure off.
[00:08:34] Robert Bendetti: This does not have to go perfect if it just doesn’t, if it goes less bad, bam, I’m a winner.
[00:08:42] Lee Michael Murphy: That’s how you have to look at it. So, Robert, I want to talk about networking. I heard you in the past talk about it.
I was like, man, this guy gets it. I mean, it’s crazy that you’re an accountant because I’ve run into a lot of them. Not many of them really truly understand the power of networking or want to do it.
Why don’t you give the listeners your [00:09:00] take on the importance of networking and how it’s played a role in your career.
[00:09:06] Robert Bendetti: Well, I take a little, a jump off of what I think Sergio and you were talking earlier is I think of it like part of my personal brand and that I’m trying to be a visible expert because I’ve seen people that were visible experts. They had a great personal brand, further along in their career than me.
And they were getting two X, the average salary they were getting, they had two X the network, they had two X the sphere of influence. And I was like, whoa, I want to be like that. So I’m just following in the footsteps.
But that’s what I think of when I think of networking, I think of building connections and I think of building a personal brand.
So not used car salesman, so nothing I’m going to talk. I have no suggestions. I have no ideas about the used car salesman con and networking. That’s not my game. I know nothing about that, but I,I can speak to, and I’d love to brainstorm with you get [00:10:00] guys over. Like, I have a spectrum of ideas from introvert who can’t leave the basement all the way to like crazy person extrovert.
I got a couple of ideas and each one of those segments to share, and then we can brainstorm.
[00:10:14] Sergio Patterson: Okay. That sounds great to me. Cause we, I mean, we have, our listeners are from all spectrums, right? Like introverts extroverts. That’d be awesome.
[00:10:22] Lee Michael Murphy: I mean for the extroverts. I think it’s more comes down to maybe laziness, not wanting to do it, but introverts there’s legit fear there and anxiety.
So, I mean, maybe with the extroverts, it’s a little bit less of a roadmap. There might be some confusion on it, but I think both are interesting. Let’s start with like the introvert. I think that’s the most common thing that I hear is, ah, it’s just being around people. I, just chatting it up with people.
I don’t know. I just don’t like it. that’s really common.
[00:10:50] Robert Bendetti: So again, the foundation of this, go back to what I’m talking about is, being,a problem solver being, somebody who can make introductions [00:11:00] or could be a resource matchmaker and visibility with your own personal brand. Right.
You’re smart. And you listen to this, you’ve learned stuff by listening to Lee and Sergio. So I idea, bracket number one is super simple stuff. Like *how about just saying yes when somebody asks you for lunch*. So I see so many engineers, accountants, computer science folks, real technical people who just never leave their desk.
They think they’re so important that they can’t, and there’s no value. And just go to lunch with the crew, leave your desk. If it’s somebody from another department or your own department, or your boss asks you to lunch, just say, yes, go with just them or with the group, leave your damn desk. Another idea, join something or attend something civic, community, faith industry, anything *physically virtually join something or attend something*, say [00:12:00] yes to lunch.
Basic ideas.
[00:12:03] Lee Michael Murphy: Yes man it’s the movie, the Jim Carey. But yeah, ,having that mentality, it kind of brings like opportunity in your life. I think most people don’t think about it that way. I didn’t, because I can say in my own career history, I was very much, no, I don’t want to network.
I don’t want to meet people. It’s not my thing. But I changed my mindset because I started realizing when I said yes, and I took the leap of faith by going to lunch in uncomfortable situations. I either at the worst case got a friend. And most of the time it was a relationship that, helped me long pass that.
And, even when I was starting off my career, I was kind of, I think, floundering, maybe the first couple years of my career in finance, I was doing all right up and down. And then, I went to lunch with, the owner of the firm I worked at for [00:13:00] seven years and it was just lunch. It was just lunch,just BSN and getting to know one another.
And then think about a year later, there was an opportunity for me to come on board and I spent seven years there. He was a great mentor to me, really jump started my career. And that was, it was just lunch, but it played an amazing part of my life.
[00:13:19] Robert Bendetti: And somebody also might just need to talk, right.
The impact you can have on somebody is that boy Lee, I just needed somebody to talk to. And I appreciate it. You just listened to me in this career thing. I think so much of you and you’re so wise, I just needed somebody to hear me out. Right? So you could just be the thing somebody needed that day.
And I’m an accountant, not a lot of people invite me to lunch. And one of my first jobs, one of my first jobs, one of the engineers, a couple of them were grabbing lunch and I was like, nah, I can’t go. And they were like, Robert, how many times do you think you’re going to get invited to lunch? You’re going to go.
And I was like, okay. And it is, sometimes you get, sometimes you give [00:14:00] and you just got a willing, not every time. Okay. You’re not going into lunch every day, but people know what I’m talking about. Say yes to lunch, go and do join and participate. That’s idea. Number one. All right. I’m going to throw out a little bit higher level here.
So again, it’s under the personal brand. It’s on being a visible expert. How can you be a problem solver? We were going to have some super knowledgeable technical people in your space. *What about writin’ some, maybe you’re not ready to speak, but you could just write some, it could be a blog. It could be a post on LinkedIn.*
It could be for an industry journal that you’re already reading and you’re subscribing to, there are all desperately looking for content. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You’re already super knowledgeable in something. Write up a draft. And again, you could just post it on a blog. You could post it on LinkedIn.
You can post it on an industry journal and there’s no stress in that. Nobody’s judging you. _Nobody’s watching you, but you’re still promoting your personal brand and you’re getting out there. _[00:15:00]
[00:15:01] Sergio Patterson: Yeah. That’s like specifically important for introverts, because I think like, as an introvert myself, like being able to write, the, spotlight’s not really on you, you’re not public speaking.
So I think that’s like a hundred percent spot on.
[00:15:13] Lee Michael Murphy: So is that opening the door to networking?
[00:15:17] Robert Bendetti: Oh, I think for sure, I think you are, again, you’re a problem solver. You’re sharing your knowledge and you’re establishing your succinct yourself as a visible expert. Somebody might reach out and go Lee. I really enjoyed that article that you wrote on wealth management.
It’s an area I don’t really have a lot of knowledge in, and you had a great call to action, but I need some help. Can you help me out? Boom. _Now you’re helping people. You’re a resource you’re connection and now people are reaching out to you looking for more information_.
[00:15:41] Lee Michael Murphy: Absolutely.
[00:15:43] Sergio Patterson: Robert. So some of us thinking about, and so earlier you mentioned say yes, when that engineer, whoever invites you to lunch, obviously right now in Silicon valley, it’s a virtual space.
Right? What I was thinking about is it’s not only like say yes, but be proactive now that we’re in a virtual [00:16:00] space, put
time on people’s
calendars for that like 15 minutes, zoom chat. I just wanted to get your thoughts there. Like for our listeners in a virtual space, like what are some tactics they can do?
That’s one, I just mentioned any, anything else that comes top of
mind to you?
[00:16:15] Robert Bendetti: Yeah, I would say, I think that’s a really great idea and when doing it.* If you’re going to do the kind of networking I’m talking about it. Isn’t to get something out of it for yourself. It’s that there are some key people that are super important to you, to your career, your person, your family.*
You need to get some time on their calendar that, Hey, I’m just checking in on you. How you doing, man? How’s the family. Last time we talked, your family was going to go on vacation. And you were thinking about writing a book, where are you at with that? Right. You just, that’s just making a connection with folks.
That’s 15, like you said, Sergio 15 minutes out of your life. And there’s five or 10 people who are super key and critical. They fed so much into you. You need to check up with those folks, not every day, [00:17:00] but maybe if there was one person a week, whereas for 15 minutes you were catching up with the most important.
I think that’s fantastic.
[00:17:07] Lee Michael Murphy: I love that. And I think it
[00:17:09] Sergio Patterson: actually, what I’ve noticed when I do that with people and I don’t, I’m not expecting anything out of it. They’re actually surprised because sometimes they’re like, oh, like, what did you need? Is there something you needed? Or
I’m like, no, I just wanted to check in.
If you genuinely care, I just want to check in and not try to like, get something out of it. I feel like a lot of people, when they hit me up on LinkedIn and
stuff, they there’s an agenda.
So I think it’s important to not always have an agenda.
[00:17:35] Lee Michael Murphy: Yeah. Just build a relationship. Yeah.
[00:17:39] Robert Bendetti: Okay. So next thing I got for you, an idea is, so let’s say somebody is like, oh man, that stuff’s easy.
I do that, that in a second. I need the next level thing. I’m a little bit more out there. I’m not much of a writer, but I want to be out there. I want to speak. People ask me like, Hey Robert, what’s it like some baby-step ideas. First thing, if you’re writing isn’t your thing, you’re more of an oral person, podcasts [00:18:00] TA-DA.
Like we’re doing right now, this is a great mode of communication and *you might not be able to write down all the content and everything that’s in your head. A podcast is a great way to do it.* Secondly, is those conferences that you’re going to virtually and physically desperately need speakers. And then the first super easy thing to volunteer for is a *panel discussion*, no preparation.
You don’t even have to say anything. If you don’t want to, you can just feed off the crowd. And the rest of the panel, a panel is a great way to baby step into speaking at a virtual or physical conference. Second, if you’ve done that you’ve done a few panels. I’d recommend a *breakout session*. maybe you got like a 20 person group, a 30 person group of like a 200 person session.
Let’s say Lee and Sergio they’re crushing a huge virtual session for two hours and they’re going to do a little breakout session. And you’ve been checking up on Sergio and Lee and they’re like, oh man, we got this big event. We want to do a breakout session. I need five people [00:19:00] to kind of volunteer and hookup with 20 people for five minutes.
Will you help me out? Yeah, sure. I’ll be a breakout session helper. And then you can move on to leading your own session, or God bless you being a keynote speaker. But I think those are some like baby steps. Again, you’re being a visible expert. You got your personal brand. What you’re doing is *sharing content*.
You’re a problem solver, but that yes is going to result in people reaching out and going man, Robert, that was great content that you shared. I’d really like to learn more and then _you’re going to end up getting something from it. But it is because you were just giving and you were sharing_.
[00:19:35] Sergio Patterson: Yeah, totally.
I mean, I won’t speak for you, but the amount of connections we’ve built through this podcast. Yeah. It’s
[00:19:42] Lee Michael Murphy: crazy. Networking has been insane. Yeah. it’s been a blessing. I don’t think it was anything that we really thought about. when we started were like, Hey, we got these ideas that we want to, give everybody and try to clear up the BS that’s in the career and the financial world.
And we made some great connections along the [00:20:00] way. But to your point, Robert forced us into it and actually Sergio and I,I mean, I’m definitely a massive introvert. I think Sergio’s a little bit more introverted as well, but it really did help, get us out of the shell and then really gave us a lot of great blessings in our life.
So totally agree with all that. when I was listening to you talk about, getting people to network and you gave some great tips on. How to start and how to make it easier when maybe you’re in person, maybe you’re via zoom, but a lot of people that aren’t used to networking, there’s the sense of pressure and they feel maybe uncomfortable in their own skin.
And you gave some great tips on like, Hey, this is what you can, this is going to help you start off. This is going to make the process easier. Can you share those with us?
given in-person and then sort of a virtual tip. So the in-person I think when you go to an in-person event that, one thing you should do is wear something that is [00:21:00] a little distinctive, something that you have maybe a passionate about, about as an example, as a lapel pin or a broach, maybe it’s your Alma mater.
[00:21:09] Robert Bendetti: It’s the sports team that you’re super passionate about, or it’s your favorite fruit? It really doesn’t matter. But if you have a big peach or you have a big USC pin on your outfit, like somebody else in that room is going to be able to start a conversation because you’ve got something right. Maybe you love it.
You could be the bow tie guy. You could be the awesome earing. Now, just something that’s kind of, it’s breaking the ice for you. Yeah. and kind of land. I wear a bow tie when I speak, because I really stand out and there’s always a few other bow tie guys, and I can go right to them and boom, at cocktail hour, I can go, man.
I love that bow tie. And we can have like a, we can, same kind of, elbow ties are such a pain to tie and your arms hurt. I haven’t tied one in so long because of COVID and it just an easy [00:22:00] conversation starter, same thing with earrings, right? Oh, those earrings are fabulous.
Where’d you get those? You got something to talk about. Just gives you something to talk about and I’ll tell you one thing not to do that. It’s a rookie mistake and especially technical people do not be the everything sucks guy do not do that. Do not be the food sucks guy. The drink sucks, guys. The service sucks guy.
some people, they break into a little table. You put your drink down and you have something to eat and they just don’t know what to say. So the default is a complaint. If you do not just keep it in, keep it silent. Don’t say it. Okay. Also, you break it into the room.
[00:22:41] Robert Bendetti: There’s always one group that’s loud and having a hell of a good time. Don’t go to that group. You don’t know them. You don’t know them. They’re in the middle of something. Awesome. Do not sneak in. No,
[00:22:58] Lee Michael Murphy: that makes so much sense. I think I’ve been that [00:23:00] guy, Hey guys, break into that dynamic.
[00:23:05] Sergio Patterson: They don’t want you there at least stay out.
They don’t want you
[00:23:07] Lee Michael Murphy: to get so quiet
[00:23:08] Robert Bendetti: and awkward, go to the talking a little bit crowd next to them, and you can even be like, wow, I don’t know what they’re talking about, but they’re having a damn good time. I love your earrings. W where did you get those? All right. and, so I just found it the super crazy awesome having fun crowd.
You can’t break into that one. you had to have gotten there five minutes early to be part of that hilarity you weren’t. So you can’t break into that. So go next door to the, having a decent time crew and hang out with them.
[00:23:40] Lee Michael Murphy: That’s such good advice. I feel like I bet that guy, I go there and then the worst thing he goes, it’s quiet.
And then everyone’s scatters. And you’re the only one that
[00:23:49] Robert Bendetti: feels
[00:23:49] Lee Michael Murphy: like such a loser, but no, that’s great observation. And I think that’s really gonna help a lot of the people that are just venturing out, really feel comfortable in their own [00:24:00] skin. Those are great strategies.
Can you give us a little count of like, how networking helped you in your career? You’ve got, you’ve had a great deal of success and I know it has played some factor into that. Can you tell us like how you think it
[00:24:13] Robert Bendetti: might’ve helped? What’s your career? Well, Serge, you, I think said it is, it seems like every job I’ve ever got, I, it, I got it because like I knew somebody and they either were working there and like, man, we got a problem.
Somebody left, we need a new person. and somebody is like, oh, I know this guy. he’s good. Maybe that guy Robert he’s interested. And it seems like every good job I have gotten is because of networking. And it wasn’t because I was trying to sell somebody, something it’s just, I was trying to be like somebody people knew and kind of visible and a problem solver.
And so people like pitch opportunities to me. And the great thing now is that I am more visible. And when I’m not looking Lee and Sergio, you know what I do, and people reach out and I’m like, oh man, we need the CFO at this great company. I’m like, I’m not looking, but I know a couple people who are [00:25:00] quietly considering new opportunities.
So I shoot it. So I shoot it over to them. Guess what, someday I’m going to need the help. I love that. I’m putting a little bit of good karma in the world because we’ve all needed it. And someday I’m going to have to start calling these cards and I’m be so glad I’ve been feeding into people for five years because I got a family to feed.
I got kids that need some dinner and I’m going to be real happy that I helped a few people out over the years. and if God will only, maybe I never need it, but it’s still cool to.
[00:25:30] Lee Michael Murphy: I love everything you’re saying,
[00:25:31] Sergio Patterson: like, especially in this market right now, when people are down and out and they’re looking for jobs, if you’re that one person that says yes and tries to help them,
they’re not going to forget that, when you need it, we all need it at some point, no matter
how good things are going, like there’s going to be that moment where you need that help.
So like, to your point, putting that good karma out is like, I practice the same thing, man. I’m with you on this. Cause I think it always
[00:25:54] Lee Michael Murphy: comes back to us.
[00:25:56] Sergio Patterson: Yeah.
[00:25:56] Robert Bendetti: I’ve got a couple more ideas for you guys. And now we’re getting into the higher [00:26:00] level stuff.
All right. So a little high level. Let’s say somebody is like, all right, Lee, Sergio. I don’t want to start my own podcast. I can’t be at their level, but I want to *be a guest*. All right. So II want to pitch the reason y’all found me. One idea is there’s a site called podcast guests, and you can just sign up to be a guest and you type up whatever your professional experiences or your personal experiences and people who have podcasts like these guys, these superstars, if they need guests, they’ll they might reach out to you.
Another idea, maybe you just love a very specific podcast. And I mean, don’t reach out to Joe Rogan. He’s not calling you back, but I’m talking like not the top 100. Okay. Don’t waste your time. But the 1 0 1 and beyond you can Google the RSS feed and it will have an email address in there, or their website will have an email address and you can reach out with them, reach out to them with a two sentence, [00:27:00] one sentence pitch, and maybe a link.
And if you could send a hundred of them, one will respond. That’s about my rate about 1%. Pretty good. You’ll need one. So that’s another idea. Another thing is like, let’s say you’re not a speaker, you’re a writer. And you’re like, Robert, I want to get out there with writing. Another thing to consider on the writing angle is a site called HARO H a R O.
It’s help a reporter out. You sign up and you get an email feed three times a day with reporters, every potential possible periodical. And they have like 20 different segments. You just pick one, like I get the business and finance and I get an email three times a day with reporters, from everything, from like a local blog to two prestigious, periodicals, Forbes, CNN, et cetera.
And they’re looking for very specific things. And maybe once every other week, it’s something appropriate to me. Do not sign up for that and waste your time, responding to things that you are not qualified for. They will not call you back. These [00:28:00] reporters are very busy, but that’s, that is a way if you’re a writer to kind of be quoted in Forbes or CNN, or just an industry periodical, and then if you want to speak at conferences, you need to reach out to them 12 months in advance.
So I get that a lot. Like, Hey, I heard of this conference that’s in a couple months. I’d like to pitch them my idea, like, well, maybe you pitch them for 14 months from now, but they’ve already locked the speakers down. So just heads up everybody. If there’s some cool conference in Vegas in two months, you’re too late.
you gotta wait until they open up submissions again. And it’s about 12 months, 11 months out.
[00:28:35] Robert Bendetti: Two other ideas is, and this is like a call to action. And, Sergio had me thinking about this, talking about what’s going on in the world right now, everybody, the thing has some sort of skill. You have something that you’re also have a personal passion around and you wish somebody would do something about, well, how about you be that at somebody?
And you be about it instead of talking about it and posting about it on the tubes, a *volunteer for a *[00:29:00] *civic or business industry or faith organization, and be on a committee like that*. There is a committee, something that you’re passionate about, they desperately need your technical capabilities, whether that’s it’s writing, it’s, just lifting product and putting it in a car because they’re going to take food to, an elderly person.
I mean, this is the time. If there’s any time to be volunteering and active in a business or an industry or a civic or a faith organization, you gotta, we gotta get out there. and then last thing is, if you’re like, that’s not enough, I’m already doing all that. Well, then you need to *start your own organization.*
*That is a passion project of yours *and where you are a resource and you are solving problems in this world. That’s what I got.
[00:29:48] Sergio Patterson: That’s awesome,
[00:29:48] Lee Michael Murphy: man. I mean, you’re doing that too, right? I mean, you’re doing a lot of that work. You’re practicing what you preach
[00:29:53] Robert Bendetti: right now. Yeah. I’m really talking to myself, honestly, Lee and Sergio, you guys just had to [00:30:00] listen to, like, this is what I tell myself in the morning, get the blank up out of bed.
I love so yeah, I’m talking to myself folks, I wasn’t trying to come off preachy. This is stuff I need to be doing and I hope I’m doing and cause people need stuff and I need this, maybe I create something that solves my own problem in the future. I mean,
[00:30:23] Lee Michael Murphy: those are all amazing points, man.
[00:30:24] Sergio Patterson: it’s easy
to like,
that just say for my city, I’m always like, oh the roads need to be better. The downtown needs a better, this needs to be better. I’m always like, I need to go and go to the city council meetings and write in an intake action. So I was thinking from like that standpoint, for everybody out there, like stop complaining and start doing like that.
That’s my big
[00:30:43] Lee Michael Murphy: takeaway from make a difference, right? I think, no, I didn’t know. We were starting this conversation that we would end up here, but I think you, that’s an excellent point. Not only does networking and enrich the opportunities in your life, but you can make. The world better. I [00:31:00] mean, , that is amazing.
I don’t think a lot of people think about it like that. if you’re going to network yes. there’s opportunities to make your life better, but you can also do good. And that’s, I love that message. Robert, what’s the big project for you now? What’s the next big project for you?
[00:31:15] Robert Bendetti: My passion project right now is the global CFO council. So I’m trying to practice what I preach. I was looking for an educational networking forum with a little bit of fellowship for senior financial executives. Didn’t really find anything out there. That was exactly like what I was looking for, where I was living.
And so me and a buddy overload. I said, yes, we talked about it for like a year and then we just finally did it. And so we started a group in one city and then expanded to another and, had to kind of pivot when COVID hit and went virtual and then realized, oh, wow. if it’s virtual, I can let people be a part of this anywhere in the world.
So we went global and now we’re the global CFO council sounds really
[00:31:58] Lee Michael Murphy: VIP
[00:31:59] Robert Bendetti: and [00:32:00] we’ve got 1500 members in 31 countries and have a, I think, a nice growing cool forum for senior financial executives to learn and share it’s I think it’s great. And I think the same kind of thing would work in any industry.
If you’re in wealth management, your a program manager and it leadership, there are groups out there. And if there’s something like you want to be involved with, we’ll just join that. Like you don’t reinvent the wheel, but if you’re a thought leader, if you’re really passionate about something and there’s nothing really out there, well, then start it and find people who are also interested in that and start virtually it’s easy.
People
[00:32:41] Lee Michael Murphy: want to get the global CFO council or reach out to you and maybe they want to pick your brain on, networking, or accounting. How can they do that?
[00:32:51] Robert Bendetti: Global CFO council dot com. I’m an accountant, so I’m not very fancy that one’s the only thing I’m on, [00:33:00] on linked on social media is LinkedIn.
That’s about as fancy as I can get. I mean, my kids think I’m old and lame, but I think I’m the only Robert that’s no, gosh, I
[00:33:13] Lee Michael Murphy: just followed you on LinkedIn.
[00:33:15] Robert Bendetti: I think I’m the only Robert Bendetti that’s a CFO in LinkedIn. Like there just, aren’t a lot of Bendettis.
So check me out there and I’d love to connect and help in any way. Thank
[00:33:27] Lee Michael Murphy: you so much, man. Before we send this off, last attempt to the people that had their say, like, you know what, networking don’t really want to do it, so just something that I’ve seen. And I don’t know if you guys seen this as well.
The people that complain a lot about not getting job opportunities, not getting promotion opportunities in my experience, have trouble networking, making your relationships. have you guys seen that too?
[00:33:54] Sergio Patterson: I
think that’s
probably a
[00:33:56] Lee Michael Murphy: fair assumption. I mean, for the most part, that’s kind of what I’ve noticed.
Like a lot [00:34:00] of people that say, like, I’m not getting this promotion, I’m not getting advanced. they, they tend to not like networking. Whereas on the other side of it, I’ve seen people that, they go to lunch with people, they’re meeting, they’re creating relationships and they get jobs so quickly.
It’s like they leave a job, bam, next grade opportunity. Or they already have it before they leave. Just something I’ve noticed.
[00:34:16] Robert Bendetti: But, well, I would say that it is, I’d say it a different way.
It is not enough to be smart and talented and educated and experienced. This is a global economy. There are a million people who are smart and educated and experienced and have the certification that you have that does not differentiate you at all.
So people need to know you now, if li if can vouch for Sergio and I am looking for a superstar program manager thought leader to lead this new thing I’m starting. And Lisa says, man, if you can get them, Sergio is in the last,bam done. Get them in here. I gotta talk to them [00:35:00] that, so that’s number one.
And I think that we live in a time where, people want to think that I’ll worry about that when I need a job or when I need something. And if you think that you’re missing, every thing I said, networking has nothing to do with that. Networking has, is about you giving you solving problems, you being a resource matchmaker and helping other people, and it will benefit you in the future.
But I just wanted to end on that point. Like this is not a secretly, how you can get everything you want in life and trick your way into success. It’s really just this, like, Hey, you could be a servant and serve others and give for a long, long time and be really helpful. It probably help your personal brand and you’d be a visible expert.
You might get something out of it along the way, [00:36:00] but guess what? You also helped a lot of people. And I think that’s the whole purpose of why we’re here.
[00:36:05] Lee Michael Murphy: Mic drop. Boom. Thank you so much, man. That was perfect. You said it perfectly. You’ve been listening to the free retiree show so long for [00:37:00] [00:38:00] [00:39:00] [00:40:00] now.