About Mervyn Byrd Mervyn has over 15 years in the banking industry, eventually opening his own commercial loan brokerage business. Today, he specializes in sales and leadership development for the Business Alliance. Two things remain constant with every position Mervyn has held—a love for people and passion to see others achieve their goals. He recently discovered another powerful outlet to harness his passion for helping others after being recruited by Vistage (top corporate peer advisory org) to lead high performing groups. What is Vistage?
“Vistage is 23,000 CEOs in 20 countries worldwide and key business leaders taking a step back from their businesses one day a month to reflect, get other input from other their peers.”
How are you ultimately recruited by Vistage?
“A good friend who is a Vistage Chair, and it was about a year and a half process where we had a conversation one day, we’re sitting out for coffee and he says, Mervin, you really ought to consider this. You know, this is your passion. You love helping people, you love seeing people grow and you will be amazing.”
What prompted you to write the workshop “The Art of Networking”?
“The mission was to address what I saw, in my opinion, that was really going wrong out there. When I see people networking some of the a faux paux that they are making and wondering why networking is tough…”
Can you share with our listeners your most successful or favorite networking experience that you’ve had?
“I was in a job transition now seven, eight years ago after I closed down my commercial loan brokerage and I was out networking and someone who, who I’d met said, Hey, I think you need to talk to John about something…”
How do you stay in front of or best nurture your network community?
“I have a built-in process with the business alliance. We are a membership organization. We host events and programs, right? So, we do 75 plus of these a year. So, I’m constantly in front of my network in that capacity.”
What advice do you have for the professional on growing their network?
“Be a giver. Don’t be in a rush to try to get. Just be a giver.”
Digital networking or traditional networking?
“For me, I’m a people person. Nothing beats a face to face conversation, sit down looking into another person’s eyes and checking out their body language and all of that.”
If you could go back 20 years, what would you tell yourself to do more or less of regarding your career?
“I would just say break out of your shell. People aren’t concerned about you, they’re concerned about them.”
What book are you reading right now?
“I’m kind of a junkie when it comes to reading. Currently, I’m juggling only two…I just finished one, finished a third, Can’t Hurt Me recently. And so, I’m reading The Power of Peers…”
Any final words of advice for our listeners?
“Get out there and get active. We see so many folks who get excited about being part of a new network and then they let their business or life get in the way.”
You can get in contact with Mervyn at:
LinkedIn: Click Here