When someone tells you the next step in your career is “networking,” something in you tightens. It feels foreign. Transactional. A little inauthentic.

That discomfort is a sign you’ve been handed the wrong definition of networking, and it’s conflicting against your integrity. 

Here are five steps I suggest to my well-meaning introverted clients who want to grow their careers without being schmooze-y.

You don’t need to play a zero-sum game in your career journey. 

You don’t need to hustle for external validation or tie your self-worth to a job title.

But you can choose to grow — to negotiate for better pay, to rise into leadership — not because you’re trying to prove your worth…