Midlife MavericksLast month I stood in front of 40 Gen Z professionals in London and asked them what they wanted to talk about.
I told them upfront: I don’t work for anyone. Which means I don’t have to soften uncomfortable truths or protect a brand image.
I can talk about whatever the fuck I want.
Networking came up. Loud and clear.
And here’s the thing: 2025 was my year of networking outside my comfort zone. The year I stopped talking only to finance people and started having conversations with writers, entrepreneurs, and people building completely different lives.
That single shift changed everything.
New opportunities. New perspectives. Access to conversations I would never have had otherwise.
So if networking feels awkward, exhausting, or deeply unappealing to you, this one’s for you.
Because, as Reid Hoffman puts it:
Quote of the week
“Opportunities do not float like clouds. They are attached to people.”
Reid Hoffman
That sentence explains almost every break I’ve ever had.
Let’s Be Clear About What I’m NOT Telling You to Do
I refuse to play golf.
I refuse to go to endless dinner events where I’m expected to perform charm until 11 p.m.
I refuse to drink myself under the table to “build relationships.”
My evenings are mine. My family’s. Non-negotiable.
For years, I watched the men around me build networks on golf courses and in bars. And I thought: if that’s the only way to network, I’m fucked.
Turns out, it’s not.
You don’t need to sacrifice your life to build relationships. You just need to be intentional about when and how you show up.
I network over coffee. Over lunch. During work hours.
I have drinks occasionally-sparkling water counts-but I’m not trading my kids’ bedtime or my sanity for another “networking opportunity.”
And honestly? The people worth knowing respect that.
So if you’ve been avoiding networking because you think it means becoming someone you’re not, breathe. It doesn’t.
Think in Decades, Not Quarters
At 49, I can tell you this with absolute certainty:
Some of my current clients were my clients 20 years ago.
Some of my most valuable relationships are 25 years old.
They are priceless.
Networking only starts working when you stop trying to optimise it.
Play the long game.
Every person you meet-peers, seniors, juniors, suppliers, clients-is a relationship. And relationships compound with time.
You don’t know where people will end up.
You don’t know when paths will cross again.
So behave accordingly.
Get Out of Your Industry Bubble
This was my biggest lesson of 2025.
For 20 years, my network looked exactly like me: finance people having finance conversations about finance problems.
Efficient. Predictable. Boring as fuck.
Then I started talking to writers. Entrepreneurs. People building businesses I didn’t even know existed.
And I realized: things I found impossible? They found easy. Things that felt obvious to me? They thought were magic.
Turns out you can’t read the label from inside the bottle. And I’d been stuck in my bottle for two decades.
That cross-pollination changed how I think, how I work, and how I make decisions.
If everyone around you thinks like you, you’re reinforcing your biases.
Force yourself to meet people outside your expertise. It will feel uncomfortable. That’s exactly the point.
Online Is Fine. In-Person Is Better.
In a world where everything happens on a screen, in-person conversations matter more, not less.
What people will tell you over a coffee, a walk, or a drink-they will never tell you on Zoom.
Get outside the office. Outside the formal setting. You meet the human, not the role.
You learn:
- what actually motivates them
- what worries them
- how they make decisions
And once you understand that, you work better with people, whether or not you ever “do business” together.
Network at Work Like Your Future Depends on It (Because It Does)
If you’re in a corporate environment, networking isn’t optional.
Go to the official events.
Put your hand up for cross-team projects.
Get to know people in other departments. In other countries.
Especially your peers.
In the short term, it makes work easier. In 20 years, some of them will be decision-makers. Others will leave and resurface in unexpected places.
Good relationships age well.
Lead with Giving. Always.
Here’s the only networking rule I follow religiously:
If someone should meet someone else I know, I introduce them. Immediately. No keeping score. No waiting for the “right time.”
I’ve never-not once-regretted being generous with introductions.
Every single time I’ve given without expecting anything back, it’s come back tenfold. Not always from the same person. Not always in the same form. But it always comes back.
Become known as someone who connects people, not someone who extracts value.
For the Shy, the Introverted, the Reluctant
If the thought of networking makes you want to fake your own death, listen:
You don’t need to work a room. You don’t need to be “on.”
Just be genuinely interested. Ask good questions. Listen more than you speak. Follow up when you say you will.
That alone puts you ahead of 90% of people.
A Final Truth (And This Is the Uncomfortable One)
Another year will pass. Quietly. Incrementally.
The question isn’t whether opportunities will exist in 2026.
The question is whether future-you has access to them.
And access doesn’t come from talent alone.
It comes from the people you chose to meet. The relationships you didn’t rush. The generosity you showed without an agenda. The real, honest connections you made.
Because opportunities do not float like clouds.
They are attached to people.
So tell me: who’s one person you’ve been meaning to reach out to but haven’t?
Hit reply. Or better yet-message them today
