Forging Solid Connections: CEO, Founder, Author on The Art of Connecting

Susan McPherson is CEO, founder of McPherson Strategies and an author who advises on the art of connecting.

Her mother would most definitely be proud.

Susan McPherson, founder and CEO of McPherson Strategies, and author of The Lost Art of Connecting: The Gather, Ask, Do Method for Building Meaningful Relationships, has spent more than 33 years since her mother’s death building a successful career built on authenticity, integrity and clear communication.

“@Susanmcp1, founder and CEO of McPherson Strategies, and author of “The Lost Art of Connecting,” has spent more than 33 years since her mother’s death building a successful career built on authenticity, integrity and clear #communication. #networking”

McPherson’s mother, Beryl Spector, a public relations specialist, was killed on New Year’s Eve, 1986 in a hotel fire in Puerto Rico that claimed the lives of 97 people.

“This was a defining moment in all our lives,” says McPherson, about the tragedy affecting her, her father and two older siblings. She dedicates her first book to her mom because she was about connections, community, cultural awareness and justice.  

Growing up between Albany and Saratoga, New York, McPherson says her mother was a “serial connector. Every morning at the breakfast table, my parents would have five local newspapers plus the New York Times spread out, and they would be clipping and cutting stories, typing notes on the typewriter, dialing friends and putting clippings in envelopes to mail.”

It was her unofficial residency in the themes of her work and developing community. She touches on all her professional and personal learnings in her new book centering on the actions of Gather, Ask, Do.

Authentic connection is the centerpiece of her Take The Lead Academy for Advanced Leadership Masterclass, “Making Connecting Your Life's Work” June 17.

Register here for Susan McPherson’s Masterclass

After earning her undergraduate degree at Albany State, McPherson went on to graduate school in broadcast journalism at Boston University. It was then when she was a student that her mother died, and McPherson took cues from her father, Sherman David Spector, a professor at Russell Sage College, to dive into work.

Her first job after graduation was at USA Today in Washington D.C, where she worked until 1989, transferring from journalism to the marketing side.

“It taught me curiosity,” McPherson says, who joined PR Newswire in 1989, where she stayed for a total of 17 years.

“What kept me staying there was every few years, they would give me a special project,” McPherson says, making her an “intrapreneur.”

In 2010, she joined Fenton Communications, building their corporate responsibility practices. In 2013, there were several key departures and McPherson says she left her job on a Friday and started her own company on Monday, McPherson Strategies.

If she thought it would be the culmination of her life’s work, she would have thought of a different company name, McPherson says.

“It’s my ex-husband’s name and it’s so narcissistic, so not me. I love to showcase others,” McPherson says.

Indeed, her communications consultancy company “focuses on the intersection of brands and social impact, providing storytelling, partnership creation and visibility to corporations, NGOs and social enterprises.”

McPherson adds that she “invests in and advises women-led technology start-ups, including iFundWomen, Inc., Messy.fm, Our Place, The Riveter, Park Place Payments, Hint Water, Apolitical, Arlo Skye, Giapenta and The Muse.”  

Her mission is evident as she serves on the boards of USA for UNHCR, The 19th News, and the Lower Eastside Girls Club, and previously served on the board of Bpeace. A member of the MIT Solve Women and Technology Leadership Group, McPerson also serves as an adviser to several nonprofits, including Girls Who Code, Ocean Collective, She’s The First, and The OpEd Project. She is is a Vital Voices global corporate ambassador.

“The goal is to make sense out of the world by creating stories. We are creating tapestries,” she says.

Sometimes women may approach networking as being about building confidence and getting promotions, all notions that can lead to an avoidance of building communities and sharing connections.

“Sometimes #women may approach #networking as being about building confidence and getting promotions, all notions that can lead to an avoidance of building communities and sharing connections. #community”

Entrepreneur reports, “According to a study by SAGE Publishing that appeared in the Journal of Human Relations, this problem is rooted in the fact that most women tend to fall victim to self-imposed barriers -- including gendered modesty, the tendency to undersell their value and strengths and reluctance to leverage their connections as a means to get ahead in their careers.“

Read more in Take The Lead on Power of female friendship

Connecting is about others, and building communities of empathy. And the need for intentionally building connection during this nearly post-pandemic era is crucial.

“Connecting is about others, and building communities of empathy. And the need for intentionally building connection during this nearly post-pandemic era is crucial. #womensgroup #community”

“This year taught us that we have a chance to reset,” McPherson says, “We can build the connections.”

How that works is with her formula of Gather, Ask, Do.

“The gather phase is looking internally to determine your goals over the next four years, four months, four weeks. What is your superpower you can bring to connections?” McPherson asks. “You have to enunciate your secret sauce.”

The next step is “to ask questions of others to understand their hopes, dreams, goals.”

Read more in Take The Lead on working together

Finally, “You can move to the phase I love the most to act upon what they need you to do, whether it is an introduction, recommendation.”

Misunderstandings abound on the need to make lasting connections, McPherson says, beginning with the notion that networking and connecting are completely separate and different. Networking is simplistic and can be about added names and contacts. Connecting is action for another. Here are other key takeaways:

“Misunderstandings abound on the need to make lasting connections, @Susanmcp1 says, beginning with the notion that #networking and connecting are completely separate. Networking is simplistic and can be about added names and contacts. Connecting is action for another. ”

1.      Connecting is meaningful for all levels of workers. “Company leaders relegate connection to a soft skill rather than making it a core part of business. When meaningful connections are made at work, people are more likely to stay at a company.“

““Company leaders relegate connection to a soft skill rather than making it a core part of #business. When meaningful connections are made at work, people are more likely to stay at a company,” says @Susanmcp1. #management #leadership ”

2.       Introverts and extroverts can be good at connecting. “This is about one to two, not one to 100. Even people who hide in the bathroom at events can triumvirate and say who are the three people to meet, the three people to share information with and what are three things I am open to learning.”

3.       Post-COVID is a zone to reset. ”This is the opportunity to be intentional.“

While McPherson says the concept of connecting is not gendered, and her research included interviewing males and females, research suggests women gain more benefits from smaller efforts at networking.

“While @Susanmcp1 says the concept of connecting is not gendered, and her research included interviewing males and females, research suggests women gain more benefits from smaller efforts at #networking. #womensupportingwomen”

Fast Company reports, “A study of recent business school graduates by Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences found that where men benefit most from building broad networks, the most successful women have both a broad network and a smaller inner network of women that they’re close with.”

Read more in Take The Lead on tips for networking

According to Fast Company, “While many standard networking events center on selling yourself (or an idea of yourself), women’s groups put more of an emphasis on how to support others. ‘Typically, networking events are very unemotional, and you leave almost feeling drained—just ‘I came, and everyone just wanted something from me,'” Alaina Shearer, founder of Together Digital, tells Fast Company.  ‘It’s very different in our group in that you come, and everybody is there to give and ask.’”

This is exactly what McPherson asserts. Connecting is about giving back.

After more than 25 years in business of marketing and connecting, McPherson says she realizes now that this book is a culmination of all she has learned and wants to share, including the lessons from her late mother.

“After more than 25 years in business of marketing and connecting, @Susanmcp1 says she realizes now that this book is a culmination of all she has learned and wants to share, including the lessons from her late mother. #inspirationalwomen”

“My biggest joy in writing this book is dedicating it to her, including two recipes of hers,” McPherson says. “I think after she was killed, part of me wanted to continue the goodness she brought into the world.”