Years ago, several enterprising executive women at the company I work for, decided to start a women’s networking group.  I was asked to be a founding member, though we called ourselves “charter members” because “founding” sounded too old and stodgy and colonial.  I was at first, skeptical.  Yes, I think of myself as a career oriented working mother but I’m no Gloria Steinem.

Well, we got this group off the ground.  We had about 20 charter members from across the company and across the country.  We’d meet face to face a few times a year and had conference calls every month.  We established a charter and guiding pillars.  We had a platform and we made a difference.  And eventually we turned the reigns over to other women leaders in each of our local chapters.

And I learned some amazing lessons from these amazing women, those who started the group and those who have taken it over and grown it.  You don’t need a lot of structure to get things done…you just need a common purpose.  The busiest people are often the ones who can take on more.  The higher you go in an organization, the more you need a cadre of trusted advisors who will give you the straight scoop.  And, the most important of which is that a network isn’t work, it’s a net.