I attended the White Plains chapter of Finance Women in Business and gave my card out to 26 members. Most of the women said they were not looking for a mortgage. After seven months of searching for sales leads through networking and some random telephone calls, Megan had earned a total of $1,850 in commissions. Feeling discouraged and beaten down, she asked Ken for advice. Ken replied, "You are doing a good job of networking. But remember you are just planting seeds. It will take time for you to develop a successful mortgage broker business. Just dig into your savings to tide you over until you are making as much money as you want. "Also, have you and Carter or your parents thought about refinancing your mortgage? You would get credit for those fees."

Discussions Questions

1. What is your evaluation of Megan's networking technique and skills?

2. What suggestions can you offer Megan so she can develop a more useful set of leads?

3. What is your evaluation of Megan's political skill?

4. What is your evaluation of Ken's political skill?

5. What does this case have to do with communication in organizations?