Making Networks Work for You 187 entrepreneurial, opportunistic and solutions orientated now than previously. Whilst men and women agree how important networking is in being successful at work, there is a difference in how comfortable they feel doing it. It is not that women lack the skills required to be effective networkers, more a question of their attitude towards the desirability of networking. Furthermore, they perceive that men are conditioned to network from an early age. When you dig deeper, women are more inclined to admit to the feeling that they shouldn't have to resort to networking: they would rather allow their performance to speak for itself rather than ­ as they see it ­ `have to blow their own trumpets'. They are also more likely to feel they don't have time. In over a decade of work with women focused on developing networking abilities, I have found that it is far more important for them to change their attitude than to acquire any new skills. For this reason, we will cover mindset later in the chapter. What are networks? Networks are merely groups of acquaintances ­ people you know or know of. At the most informal end of the scale, they are individuals you might pass the time of day with, bump into at the company social club, see at a parents' evening, or what- ever. As networks become more formal, there tends to be some common interest or agenda. Certainly, colleagues you collaborate with elsewhere in the business fall into this category. But it might be outside work, a sporting connection, for example, or a club ­ in fact, anything you're a member of or a participant in. If you ask people to draw their personal network, most come up with a hub diagram. They place themselves at the centre ­ the hub ­ with their connections arranged around them. This,