Networking on the go! Walking meetings

Sitting is the smoking of our generation.

Says Nilofer Merchant, and I agree.

I hang out with a lot of business owners and entrepreneurs who maintain an awesome healthy lifestyle. They don’t do it because they’re hippies, they do it to make more profit, personal or social.

And I respect that. And I want that for me. And I want it for you too.

I spent my childhood behind a desk in school, my entire career in cubicles and offices. I only attend meetings where everyone sits and talks in order. There is no standing, there is NEVER any standing. Whose fault is that? Mine! I chose this life and lifestyle – if change is to be, it must start with me.

After all, there are so many awesome thinkers I admire and many of them insisted on walking and talking meetings. This spring, I went for a long walk with Jaime Stein on one of his #KilihikeTO walks to network and prepare to climb a mountain for #Climb4Cord to create Canada’s first “cord blood” bank. It was truly an “ah-ha” networking moment for me.

Sure if sitting is the new smoking, getting up for meetings could save my life but there is also the creativity aspect. Our brains evolved not to think more, but to accommodate more complex movement – moving more helps the brain digest and create better!

I know we’ve gotten so used to meetings, we often say “let’s grab a coffee” ( and I’ll still be starting at Starbucks ) but the office has evolved, so should meetings!

And of course fresh air to creativity is what they originally meant by “thinking on your feet” – which is what my favourite chef James Barber used to say. His specialty was “cooking with what we have” instead of trying to create a dish with all new ingredients. Does this sound like your office? There is no new revenue, no more budget money, no more hours in the day. So we cook with what we have and it CAN be delicious.

So! Enjoy Nilofer’s great TED talk below, you’ll see me out and about for more meetings and I’ll be hosting a networking idea-walk this summer in June! Details to follow.

If you’re around May 27, I hope you’ll walk on over and join me at my career event, “Fundraising Director School” until then…

Happy walking, Paul