Networking is more than competition; it takes humanity – rapport, trust, and authenticity – which one family law practitioner believes is the best approach.
In a recent episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, Martina Storgato (pictured), Mills Oakley partner, talked about her experience finding the best way to approach networking.
Storgato said the best way to look at networking is within an ecosystem. “So, as an ecosystem, when you think about how that actually works, again, all complementary and everybody working together to achieve the same sorts of goals,” she said.
She spoke about her aspirations in practising family law. “[What] I’m trying to achieve is to assist the people in that part of the market who just want to get on with life and want to do it as cleanly and painlessly as possible. And they want to continue to love their children and go to all the sports and be able to go to things together,” she said.
“So if they can maintain, for the child’s benefit, a workable relationship, then I feel as though I’ve achieved my goals.”
Although, this was not limited to only her clients. “I’ve [had] clients referred to me, and I’ve [had] complimentary [reviews] from the other party, which I find to be a significant achievement,” she said.
She experienced firsthand the impact of strong connections with her clients and referrers, she said: “I had people knocking on the door, literally saying, ‘We found you. Can you keep working for us?’”
“I think we’ve all been in that awful situation where you’re trying so hard to make a relationship work or to make a connection and you just feel so synthetic or artificial … I think organic is the right approach. And so, it’s [about] going to things that you enjoy, meeting like-minded people and getting forward who you are and being authentic about the person that you are,” she said.
This authenticity comes from eliminating the concept of competition and embracing everyone as a colleague, she said.
She said: “First of all, there are many chairs to go around the table, and ultimately, if that table’s not big enough, get a bigger table … In the area that you work on, you’re always going to have a seat at the table because you’re bringing a different opinion and a different voice.”
“Remember that your colleagues and your friends are going to be the biggest resource for you in terms of your networking, but they’re also going to be the greatest friends when you need them, at those moments when it all gets very hard.”
