I don’t often know what people mean when they say, “I am bad at networking.” Do you find socializing in general challenging? Are you often working in isolation? Do you find the expectations about developing a professional rapport unclear or murky? These are all valid anxieties.

The metric for being good at networking can’t be “How effectively can I leverage my relationships for success right now.” That’s not the point, believe it or not. Networking is a slow, slow burn.

The bedrock of professional networking is... professionalism. Are you generally affable? Do you show up again when you say you’ll show up? Do you make an effort to understand and respect boundaries? That stuff gets around. Everything else is mostly out of your hands.