The power of an introduction

One thing I’ve been thinking about recently is how much of women’s progress happens through introductions. Not the flashy kind that happen at keynote speeches and award ceremonies. The ordinary kind.

That might be a colleague forwarding a name, or a WhatsApp message saying, “I know someone you should speak to.” Or it could be as simple as a woman opening a door and holding it open for somebody else.

So much of our working lives is shaped by these moments. When we look back on opportunities that changed our careers, many of us can trace them to a single person who thought of us when an opportunity arose and put in a good word.

I remember, in the early days of QW+, hearing stories about funding and media innovations emerging from conversations on golf courses. I confess I felt quite bitter about my own chronically limited ball skills. Golf was never going to be my route into power.

Close to eight years in, I have come to suspect that golf courses are not the only places where power gets built. It also lives in voice notes, WhatsApp groups and coffee dates.

At least, that’s what I’ve seen at QW+.

Women introduce us to other women who should be on the database. Members connect one another to opportunities. Experts recommend colleagues working in adjacent fields. Journalists return because one introduction led to another, and then another.

This is how movements grow: through trust and generosity. They grow from the understanding that opening a door for someone else does not close it for ourselves. 

Perhaps there’s a story about how power works that we have all taken on board. Power is scarce, access belongs to a few people. Yet over the years, I have seen something different: power lives in abundance. Generosity creates more generosity. Power grows when it is shared. 

Which makes me wonder:

• Who is doing important work in your field whose name people should know?
• Who has expertise that deserves to be more visible?
• Who is early in their career and needs encouragement?
• Who are you uniquely placed to connect?

As you read this, we’d love you to think about three women.

• One woman who should be part of the QW+ community (email that name to hello@quotethiswoman.org.za!)
• One woman you could connect to an opportunity.
• One woman whose work deserves to be amplified.

How can you act on one of those thoughts?

We often assume power works in one way, because the dominant culture tells us it does. But we already have ways of building power that look different. It is up to us to embrace them.

Picture: Alexander Schimmel, Unsplash