Is Your Trusty Networking GPS Leading You Astray?

GPS technology relies on Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) to provide accurate, real-time guidance. Effective networking also depends on PNT principles to steer yourself in the right direction.

That being said, Episode 107 of The Energy Detox podcast will help you answer the following PNT questions:

📍Positioning: How can you boost your visibility—and your awareness—to make sure you’re not missing potential connections right in front of you?

🧭 Navigation: What tools, cues, and excuses can you use to confidently and authentically weave your way through conversations?

⏱️ Timing: What can you do before, during, and after a conversation to ensure steady, efficient flow—without causing bottlenecks or corrosion?

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
So did you know that on March 27the Federal Communications

(00:04):
Commission, the FCC, is meetingin Washington, DC, to discuss
alternatives to GPS? Becausewhile GPS plays a significant
role in our lives, it is notinfallible, and so the FCC is
taking it upon themselves todiscuss other platforms, other
technology that are related toPNT, standing for Positioning,

(00:27):
Navigation and Timing. BecauseGPS is just one of many PNT
platforms, technologies that,again, can support the all
important desire to know wherewe are at any given time and to
help get from point A to B, andof course, to help control so
much of our communicationstechnology.

(00:47):
That being said, in the oil andgas industry, we of course, also
rely heavily on GPS, fromlogistics and transportation to
seismic surveys, including, frommy own experience working
offshore where running seismic,I remember two distinct things.
One was the whale watchers thatwere employed to make sure that
there was no sea creaturesaround when we were taking

(01:09):
seismic surveys. But the secondelement that I remember clearly
was how important GPS was, howthat precise measurement of
timing and location was key topainting an accurate picture of
what was going on well beneaththe earth's surface.
And so today, on the energydetox, we're going to take that
GPS theme and the importance ofGPS, but mostly the importance

(01:32):
of looking for alternatives to atried and true technology like
GPS when it comes to you, andyour networking. When it comes
to you, and your ability to makeand form and sustain connections
with other people. And to havethat conversation today onThe
Energy Detox, I'm standing hereat Carnegie Mellon University,
CMU, for a couple differentreasons. One is because we are

(01:53):
in the midst of "Energy Week."At the same time that that FCC
meeting is going on about GPShere on CMU campus, people are
gathering for its annual energyweek, conversations that you
could be a part of if you're ifyou're watching this in time.
But the other reason, moreimportant reason, that I'm here
on CMU's campus, because CMU hasa long history of connections to

(02:16):
GPS. For decades, CarnegieMellon has been at the forefront
of the utilization of GPS whenit comes to technology, most
significantly when it comes toself driving vehicles. Because
if you were in downtownPittsburgh, or worked in
downtown Pittsburgh, as I didback in the 2016, 2017 time
frame, you saw many vehiclesdriving around, self driving

(02:37):
Ubers in that experimental phasethat didn't last very long, but
again, it was a neat sight tosee, and had very deep
connections to CMU.
But those connections run muchfurther back than 2016, 2017. In
fact, in 1995 CMU had a Navlabproject, and the Navlab 5 was a
Pontiac minivan that drove fromPittsburgh to San Diego, well

(03:02):
over 2000 miles, and 98% of thattrip was hands free, a
forerunner, if you will (not aToyota Forerunner, but a Pontiac
Trans Sport van) that drove,based on all GPS technology and
a whole bunch of other high techstuff at the time, including
cameras to get that vehicle,again 98% of the time, hands

(03:24):
free, from Pittsburgh to SanDiego.
And so with all of that beingsaid, with this location laid
out there, with Energy Weekhere, and with the fact that you
as an individual in the energyindustry rely heavily on your
connections and on your network,let's dive into a series of PNT
(Positioning, Navigation, andTiming) tips that you can use to

(03:45):
become a better networker. Butkeep in mind, this isn't meant
to be a 10 minute exercise andjust sharing things that you
probably already know or thatyou can easily Google when it
comes to networking. No,instead, we're going to leave
you with a series of questionsthat you could ask to take your
networking to another level, totransform your ability to make,
grow and sustain connectionswith others.

(04:07):
So that being said, we're goingto start first with
(P)ositioning. And ironicallyhere, as I put my head down to
look at some of the notes I haveon this note card here, the
first tip when it comes topositioning is to keep your head
up, physically and figuratively,keep your head up to boost your
awareness of what's going onaround you. And if you're in a
physical networking scenario,it's amazing how often you see

(04:27):
people walking around inhallways with their heads down.
What are they missing? It'samazing how often people miss
small opportunities to boosttheir awareness of their
surroundings. Maybe they'restanding in a buffet line at
some event, and instead ofchoosing the side of the buffet
where you can have a purviewover everything that's going on.
They choose the side where theirback is basically to all of the
activity. They have no sense ofwho's coming and going or where

(04:49):
they might want to sit. Littlethings like that that can open
up your awareness simply byliterally keeping your head up.
And from a more figurativestandpoint, keeping your head up
when it comes to opportunities,being aware of those small
things, those small things youmight notice, say, if you're
watching a presentation, ifyou're at energy week here at

(05:10):
CMU and you're listening tospeakers, and you're looking for
those small things that can forma deeper connection. Because
lots of people after thespeakers here at CMU are on
stage, lots of people will comeup to them and say, Hey, that
was really great. I reallyenjoyed your talk. But it's
amazing how many of those peoplewill miss opportunities for
those small, specificconnections that require you to
pick your head up, to lookaround, to find those little

(05:33):
details that are going to formmuch deeper, stronger
connections than some generic"Hey, I really enjoyed that,
Well done, Thanks for being heretoday."
That being said, the nextelement of the positioning
category here in our figurativenetworking GPS conversation is
differentiation. So what areopportunities for you to
position yourself in a muchbetter position than everybody

(05:56):
else around you? How do youdifferentiate yourself? And
again, it's an open question,with some specific, discrete
things you can do, likedifferentiating the subject of
your email that you might sendin a follow up to an individual.
It's amazing how many peoplemiss those opportunities to hone
in on some specific element of aconversation, whether it's
related to something in theirpersonal lives and their kids
and their family, or sometravels, and looking for that

(06:18):
opportunity to again form thatdifferentiated connection
instead of just hey, it was nicemeeting you at that CMU energy
week event or whatever it is youhappen to be at. So again,
continually ask for thoseopportunities to say, Hey, how
can I differentiate myselftoday? Again, not just to stand
out, but to form that deeperconnection with the person that
you're looking to well networkwith.

(06:41):
The third tip under thepositioning umbrella is, well,
obviously you need to know whereyou're located when it comes to
an event. Why are you at a givenevent? Why are you in a given
position to interact with otherpeople? But more significantly,
why are they there? How did theyget there? What is it that
they're looking to get frompotential engagement with you.

(07:04):
And again, it's one of thosethings that's easy to miss. It's
easy to say, hey, you know youwant to meet people where
they're at but what does thatactually mean? Well, it means
understanding, what are theylooking for? What would make
them jump for joy? What wouldmake them find that? Hey, this
was a truly valuable exchange.
This was a truly valuable use ofmy time if you're not asking
that question to say, Hey, whatare you hoping to get out of
today? Hey, what are you hopingto get out of this presentation?

(07:25):
Hey, you know what? What wouldagain leave you feeling like
this was a great investment ofyour time after you walk out of
this lunch and learn or thisweek long event, understanding
their position and what they dobefore jumping into the
temptation to share what you do,as human as that might be, it's
those little things that if youprepare for again, you're going

(07:46):
to put yourself in a betterposition by understanding the
position and the role that theother person has.
That being said, moving on tothe next category of this PNT
exercise, this conversation, andthat is (N)avigation. How do you
actually move through theprocess of networking and
connecting with others? Well,first item there is to ask open,

(08:10):
good questions. And again, itflows from that last tip,
understanding what somebodyelse's position is, what their
role is, getting deep into thatbefore again, trying to shift
gears to yourself. The more youunderstand others, the more you
get them talking again, the moreoptions you're going to have to
connect with that individual.
But it starts with open endedquestions, not these, yes, no
questions or hey, you enjoyingyourself today? But hey, how are

(08:32):
you enjoying yourself? Hey, whathave you found to be the most
valuable part of thisconversation? Good open ended
questions is all going back tothe positioning piece. One, a
good way to position yourselfand differentiate yourself from
others, and avoid the temptationto just make meaningless small
talk and ask the same questionsthat other people might ask, but
again, more importantly, to putyourself in a position to maybe

(08:54):
weave your way through someconnections that you might have
with that other individual thatyou might not be privy to if you
didn't ask those good, openended questions.
The next element of navigation,how do you move through the
networking, the connectingelement of your professional and
personal life? Well, it's tolean into your excuses, not be

(09:17):
afraid of the excuses that youhave. To ask good questions, to
strike up a conversation. Youknow, it's easy for people,
whether you're just starting outin industry, early on in your
career, or even people who'vebeen around for decades, it's
easy to kind of shy away fromyour excuses if you're the odd
person out, if you're new to anenvironment, versus leaning into
them and saying, Hey, look, Ihave an opportunity to say,

(09:38):
look, I'm new here. I've neverdone this before. You think
about somebody on an oil and gaslocation wearing that green hat,
right, signifying that they'renew to the industry, what a
phenomenal excuse they have toask all the dumb questions.
Well, again, a question for youtoday is, What excuses do you
have to connectto form a bondwith somebody else to ask a
question? Lean into thoseexcuses. Take advantage of those

(09:59):
excuses.
And similarly, the next tip isto embrace the awkward. So
again, you might be in anuncomfortable environment, but I
often go back to one tip that Iheard from an HR leader five
years ago at the onset of COVID,when, again, people were getting
used to Zoom meetings and allthe awkwardness of the different
ways of connecting with people.
And her advice was verystraightforward. It said, you

(10:20):
know, one thing that she saw foremployees who were flourishing
is the ones who embraced theawkward, the awkwardness, the
unease of those virtualconversations that they weren't
used to, the ones who leaned inand says, Look, I'm going to
make mistakes. Other people aregoing to make mistakes. Well,
it's that same philosophy thatyou can use when it comes to
networking. You know, you mighthave that awkward interaction,
maybe in a bathroom right whereyou don't really want to say

(10:43):
anything, but you recognizesomebody, or maybe you messed up
somebody's name in a previousengagement and you're afraid to
broach it. No! How can youactually take full advantage of
those excuses, of those awkwardmoments and lean into them for
your advantage, to differentiateyourself and to form those
deeper, stronger, lastingconnections?

(11:05):
That being said, let's move onto the third and final element
of PNT, (P)ositioning,(N)avigation and (T)iming.
Because when it comes to Timing,again, there's a lot of ways to
kind of ruin the establishedconnections that you're just
beginning to form, or perhapsthat you formed over many years.
And so when it comes to timing,the first element here is, well,

(11:27):
asking the other party Whatwould be ideal, not just looking
for opportunities and windows tofollow up and have a
conversation, which, again,might be your ultimate goal, but
asking that other person, hey,what would be ideal? A nice,
again, open ended question tohave them say, You know what?
What would be ideal is, we neverspeak again. Or what would be
ideal is, you know, might be alittle out of the ordinary, but

(11:48):
you know, "Friday, lateafternoon, even early evening,
is really my best time toconnect with folks, because my
day, my week, is kind of comingto a close, and I love it. So if
it's okay with you, then let'sgo ahead and, use that time."
But it starts by you asking thatother person what would be
ideal. Maybe you can't form thatconnection when it comes to
timing, but at least you know,and at least you can reference

(12:09):
it, and at least you can try andagain. It's one of those
mistakes that a lot of peoplemake when they jump in trying to
look for those perfect windows.
Instead of saying, hey, you knowwhat? What would be perfect for
you?
The next piece of the timingelement is, well, what are those
perfect moments? Maybe theperson that you're working with
or trying to connect to doesn'thave an answer to what would be

(12:31):
ideal. So let's turn to somerules of thumb, that being when
is the ideal time to follow upwith somebody, and the answer,
at least according to theinternet, is Tuesday mornings.
So Tuesday mornings, if youknow, all else being equal, if
you have flexibility, I want tofollow up with somebody and send
them a note, send them an email,give them a call. Tuesday
mornings tend to be the idealtime. Why? Well, they've gotten

(12:55):
through the Monday catch upperiod, but they're not so deep
into their week where they feellike they're falling behind. And
if they show up Tuesday morningand they check their email, that
again, statistically, is one ofthe best windows that you can
have. So there's little tips andtools like that. Again, we're
not going to list them all outhere, but it's all under this
umbrella of, hey, if you'regoing to position yourself in
the best way possible, bemindful of the timing of the

(13:19):
other person.
Moving on, and perhaps somewhatironic here, as this podcast
goes a little bit longer than Iplanned, and that is to crisp up
your message, especially yourintroduction. Crisp up your
introduction so that you canquickly pivot to the other
person and again, ask those openended questions of them. Let
them go on, let them ramble on abit, to give you those insights

(13:40):
to give you those potentialopportunities to form deeper,
stronger, lasting connections.
Resist the temptation to launchinto your own dialogue, or
monologue, I should say, anddiarrhea of the mouth, or
whatever it happens to be that'slong winded, unnecessary and can
put the other person off. Thisis Human Communication, 101, but
it's critical, and it'ssomething that a lot of people

(14:00):
miss. So crisp up your message.
And then finally, Always BeConnecting, ABC. I know there's
the famous line from some moviethat I never watched with Alec
Baldwin, where he said, youknow, "Always Be Closing" from a
sales standpoint, which again,has all kinds of maybe not so
positive connotations. ButAlways Be Connecting. Far better
than "always be closing." Alwaysbe looking for those

(14:21):
opportunities to form, todeepen, to strengthen and to
sustain those connections withother human beings, whether you
just met them or again, whetheryou're "just" meeting them for
the for the 100th time, itdoesn't matter. ABC. Always be
connected.
So with that in mind, Iappreciate you tuning in as
always. I certainly welcome yourfeedback on things that would

(14:42):
help you and really help anybodyin any industry connect in a
more sustained way. And asalways, I hope you have a great
rest of the day. So thanks againfor tuning in, and bye for now.