09/02/2026
Networks are wide. Corners are deep.
I just published a piece for Forbes Coaches Council on a distinction I use with almost every coaching client: the difference between the people who follow your career and the five to ten people who are actually in it with you.
The idea has a name because of my friend Jennifer Garrett. She used the word "corner" โ borrowed from boxing, where every fighter has people between rounds watching closely, adjusting strategy, sending them back out ready. Not cheering from the stands. Working the fight alongside them. The moment she said it, something I'd been doing my whole career (and calling my "kitchen cabinet") finally had the right name.
Jennifer also convened me, Shayna Mace, Patti Epstein and Allison Cramer for a recent UW Women's Leadership panel to dig into the concept together โ that conversation shaped a lot of what's in this piece.
A few things I unpack in the article:
โ Why a bigger network solves a different problem than the one that determines whether you thrive under pressure
โ The real difference between a mentor and someone in your corner
โ How to build a corner if you don't have one โ starting with naming the specific gap, not "I need more support" in the abstract
โ Why reciprocity is what keeps a corner alive, and the most underused form of it.
The takeaway I'd leave you with: your corner isn't found at networking events. It's built by asking for help, receiving it graciously, and being just as willing to stand in someone else's corner when it's their turn.
Read the full piece here: https://bit.ly/4x0E8XK
Thank you, Jennifer โ for the word, and for the room. ๐
You might have thousands of LinkedIn connections and, realistically, five to 10 people in your corner.