Q&A: Courtney Johnston

In my experience, NZ works on who you know, not what you know. That's great if you are an extrovert. Any advice for the introverts who find networking tough?

Earlier in my career I found networking really artificial and quite intimidating. I actually wrote this up after I was invited to talk to a group of early career professionals a few years ago. It’s a long post that ends with some practical suggestions. Overall, I suggest if as an introvert you find traditional networking events (the glass of wine and small talk kind of thing) draining, look for other kinds of meet-ups that are more energising/approachable for you, or work with people you trust and enjoy to organise your own more satisfying events.

You talked about the biases you have experienced through your recruitment experience, but how did you overcome those biases to become successful?

I guess I just persisted. And, have become more discerning about the feedback that I take on and can respond to (skills you can develop or experiences you can seek out), and the feedback that you just have to assess, and then chuck away if it’s not able to be acted on (“have a big failure to show you can bounce back”, “be older”).

You mentioned your mentor. Would you recommend getting one? How did you select yours? Any tips?

I’m working with my first mentor, so I didn’t have this experience until I was 20 years into my career. And I was lucky enough to be have one of my colleagues act as a match-maker.

If I go back 15 years in my career, the most helpful encounters weren’t necessarily ongoing mentoring relationships, but people with more experience than me in the workplace, who could look at how I worked and say “Hey, look, you have a real skill/talent in this area that you could grow into something special”. Start by seeking out people who you can form a trusting feedback relationship with – and be explicit about what you’re asking for and why.

It might also pay to do some reading about role models (people who you can watch and learn from – for example, I watch workshop facilitators really closely to learn new tactics) vs coaches (a person who you ask to work with you on a specific piece of growth, giving really targeted feedback and suggestions for improvement) vs mentors (who are more of a guide, who you develop a long-term relationship with) vs sponsors (people who are advocating for you in the rooms where opportunities come up).

Finally, not quite connected but I want to make the point somewhere: people can’t help you if they don’t know what you’re aspiring to. You have to be clear and open about what you want to be or do if you want people to rally around you and support you along the way.

I found myself really responding to your communication style. Any advice on how you developed such a powerful approach?

Ugh – lots of trial and error. I used to hate public speaking and physically reacted to it – shrinking throat, sweaty hands, teary eyes, vanishing voice. But I realised to do what I wanted in my career I just had to push through. So, I took every opportunity I could to speak, present – even just speak up in meetings – until it stopped being awful and became tolerable. Then I lucked into an opportunity to be on RNZ regularly, and fortnightly appearances just made me better.

Today, I think a lot about the audience. It’s not about me – it’s about the service or experience I’ve been asked to give to the people in the room. If I think about speaking as a service, it’s a lot easier.

I’ve also asked for lots of feedback on my presenting, and used that to hone what I’m good at (openness, enthusiasm) and to force myself to experiment with what I’m less good at (concision, gravitas).

I love to network and connect with people but I have recently found myself struggling to entertain polite small talk, any advice on this?

You might need to change up the kind of networking you’re doing. Maybe focus more on developing depth in promising connections and less on making new ones? One thing I do regularly with new people who I meet and then follow up with for coffee is say “I have this problem/line of thought that I’d really love to talk through with you, get your perspective” – and use that to steer the conversation.

How do you deal with people who make it clear they are hostile to being led by you (as a younger female leader, when your staff members may be older and male)?

I’d say you shouldn’t be tackling this issue alone. It’s something for your manager or HR to be supporting you with. Depending on your level of confidence you might be able to tackle this head-on with an open conversation and coming to an understanding about what needs to change on both sides of the equation for the reporting relationship to work; however, I don’t want to make assumptions about how well equipped you feel to deal with this.

How many roles do you apply for? Lots, or just the ones you really want?

Very few. Then again, I work in a field that doesn’t have a tremendous amount of turn-over. I don’t see why I’d apply for a job I didn’t realistically see myself doing – and as a person who has done a lot of recruitment, half-hearted applications are really painful to deal with on the receiving end.

Is there someone in your life who inspired you to get to where you are now?

Literally dozens. People who have really fostered my curiosity and desire to make things better. Empathetic and generous teachers, managers, colleagues and friends. I do what I do from a sense of service, and from a desire to see how much I’m capable of.