Six Ways Tailgating Helps Professional Women Boost Their Careers
Tailgating, for most of us, means socializing and partying until the game starts. We tailgate for the love of the game, the love of our team, and the love of mingling with friends and co-fans. While tailgating we live in the moment with hardly any thought of business.
Little do we know, and only a few realize it, but there can be more to tailgating than meets the eye. This deeper meaning, especially to adult professional women, can be business networking.
How Tailgating Creates Opportunities
- Time to Learn From Another’s Experience –
Meeting new people is a great time to ask questions, have a chat, and exchange stories. People feel cared about when you ask questions and listen to their answers. Hopefully, you’ll have a short story to reply with. When speaking with other professional women, listen, reflect and see how your experiences compare to hers. If you learn something, absorb it, and use it to your advantage. Consider sending the person a message or email on Monday to tell them that you appreciated speaking with them.
- Time to Learn a New Skill – Tailgating is about food. Why not ask the person who brought a yummy goodie to teach you how to make it? Ask for recipes – it’s a great way to connect again. Ask questions. Maybe ask where they bought their shirt or how they make their Raiders outfit? Besides being fun, throwing a bean bag or bouncing a ping pong ball is a skill that may come in handy one day.
- Branding – As you are walking, look around. Look for things to talk about to “break the ice.” Is there something on or in their RV or truck to talk about or compliment them for? Be observant. Remember why you are at the tailgate. If it’s to network, consider it work and drink water or carry a beer. You only have one chance to make a first impression.
- Passion, Confidence, and Belief – People gather to support their team and other fans. What makes Tailgating great is passion, confidence, and the belief that the Raiders will win. If they lose, we know that the fans and team gave it their all. Professional women can learn from our team. We also don’t know where our careers will take us. Obstacles and challenges are a part of the game. Stay committed. Believe in yourself. Be confident. Take your passion to a higher level to become successful in your chosen career.
- Time to Help Others – Show others your talents in a humble way. When you are complimented or asked for advice, take the time to speak with them and possibly help someone out. It always pays to help someone in need, especially if they can use what you have to help make their lives better. Good karma will always come back to you.
- Enjoy the Time with Yourself, Your Family, and People Around You – Whether you were with family or friends when you arrived at the tailgate, don’t forget to enjoy the time. One thing that professional women do to lead them to success is that they enjoy what they are doing in the moment. Consider networking as team building, and you are doing your part very well.
Tailgating can be so much more than a pre-game party. If you look at it as an opportunity, you will learn things, meet people and benefit a lot from being there. people who can afford football tickets are not poor.
How about you? Has tailgating helped you with something in your career? Let us know, and we can cover it in our next article.
Sponsored by Kurt Grosse with Realty One Group ~ Your Housing Protector
