For Big, Trusted Climate Influence, Think Smaller

The image with this post is from the Hollywood Climate Summit screening at Climate Week NYC of the film, The Whitehouse Effect , and it fits with my topic today because it was one of the not-huge events I attended that had some of the biggest impact on me.

When you focus on the smaller rooms where you’ll more directly interact with big creative thinkers…

When you open yourself up to more engaging behind the scenes rather than your staged stage presence…

When you allow yourself to be at more spontaneously organized happy hours more than the dinners you had to register for months ahead of time…

That’s where the synergies happen. In the “between” spaces.

And, the equivalent of those things on a platform like LinkedIn - in how you engage, who you lift up and how you connect the dots - between gigantic climate moments and events - is how you build the long-term, resilient influence that matters.

Here’s a quote:

“The point that I'm trying to make here, is that the same idea, thinking about the smaller moments or how you actually do make connections or as a human being, you know, what resonates when you've left a moment at dinner party, something. And you’ve gone away with like an idea or like, oh man, I really want to work with that person more. So…the same should be going for anything you're doing in trying to be seen as a leader in climate action. You know, you can try to go bigger or flashier or you can step back and really examine what you really want to come out of your event or milestone, etc.”

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Tips for changing your mindset to a “between spaces” approach.

One: It’s actually the *more relaxed you* who will come across these opportunities at events or online.

So, what happens if you contribute a comment to that post you saw? What happens if you skip the 4-hour event with 8 panels and instead pay attention to who is in the hall drinking coffee and start a casual conversation?

Two: Think about how you can be a curator of information and colleague/peer-connecting.

It’s about you at the center of the swirl of insightful information and network connection-building, NOT you at the performative, traditional “top” of your sector’s leadership heap. SO few people approach it this way that those few who do are noticed by just the right people.