Overview

On this episode of Build Your Network, Host Travis Chappell interviews Michael Roderick, founder of Small Pond Enterprises, helping people become thought leaders.

Topics Discussed:

• About Michael Roderick
  • Worn many hats but has been most interested in connecting and connecters.
  • Most excited about the intersection between relationship building and thought leadership.
  • It’s about giving people frameworks, not absolutes.
    • Some people like to stay behind the scenes, others get frustrated with that.
  • Went from being a high school English teacher to a Broadway producer in two years.
    • He studied the industry and looked at the thing nobody else was doing.
    • He helped other producers attain their success and was offered a credit much quicker than normal.
  • Do you believe that what you know or who you know is more important, and why?
    • Both are incredibly important, and one doesn’t go over the other.
    • Taking the time to learn from others will make you successful in relationship building.
    • The more you understand the people around you, the easier it is to figure out who to connect them to.
    • Some of the most influential and powerful people don’t put themselves very far into the spotlight but make major things happen.
  • What’s the main relationship-building principle you focus on?
    • Pay attention to the type of person he’s dealing with, breaks it into four categories:
      • A – Advocates – people who are just as invested and interested in what he’s working on as his goals.
      • B – Boomerangs – More transactional and “networky.”
      • C – Celebrities – Others try to connect with them.
      • D – Drains – They can’t think about anything else but asking, high state of need.
    • People see the D’s as the takers, but we’ve all had to be a drain at some point.
    • You have to think – How do I make things accessible?
  • Tell us about a time when a connection led to a moment of success?
    • Had a friend in PR who introduced him to another friend as he was still building things out.
    • He asked Michael what he was trying to accomplish.
    • He introduced him to his first podcast interview
    • Through this he ended up at a major event where he met a ton of amazing people.
  • How far behind would you be without your network and focusing on relationship building.
    • Would be very far behind.
    • You only need to things to get to the next level:
      • People and platforms.
    • Why do you think a lot of people fail to network?
      • It becomes something you put aside because it doesn’t matter in the immediate.
      • When he was a director, they would deal with transitions between scenes.
        • A lot of the time relationship building is in the transition category.
        • If you are focused on growing your business and selling something, you’ll take every interaction as if it’s a sale.
        • In doing this, you’ll miss out on building a real relationship with people.
      • If you’re always solving problems and never asking, they start to believe:
        • You have no needs.
        • Or it’s like credit card debt, they avoid you because they don’t know how to give back to you.
      • How do you transition from not asking for anything, to asking well?
        • Identify who your advocates are, who has given to you and wants to support you.
        • Let them in on your challenge and ask for ideas.

The Random Round:

• What profession other than your own do you think it would be fun to attempt?
  • College Professor
• If you could sit on a park bench for an hour with anyone past or present, who would it be?
  • Zig Ziglar
• How do you like to learn best, books, blogs, podcasts or video?
  • A mix: reads a ton and listens to shows.
• What’s one of your favorite books?
  • Captivate by Vanessa Van Edwards
• Give us a glimpse of your morning routine?
  • Early wakeup 5/5:30 am
  • Go to coffee shop and write daily email
  • Dig into tasks
  • Meditate twice a day at different times of the morning.
• What is your go-to pump up song:
  • Anything from Hamilton
• What are you not very good at?
  • Saying no.
• Find him online:
  • com

Tweetable Quotes:

• “You have to have a balance between giving and asking.”
• “You limit things in your life when you limit others creativity.”

Resources Mentioned:

Buildyournetwork.com – Podcast website

BYN.media/fb – Facebook Group

Small Pond Enterprises

Captivate by Vanessa Van Edwards