I’d Rather See a Sermon Than Hear One: A Testament to Ms. Pat Tobin – Between the Lines

Pat could sell ice to Eskimos and talk her way into Fort Knox. The difference between Pat and other people, however, is that Pat could make the best of the opportunity. She knew what the client needed and had the answer when they asked her, “So, what you got?” Pat Tobin helped others build and add value to their end-game. She always had the end-game in mind, to make people better and enhance their impact.

In the 1980s, the only real voices in our community were entertainers, athletes, preachers and politicians. The former two tried to dance and sport away our misery, and the latter two sermonized the community’s misery. But that was it. The misery remained. Even Blacks in the black media had lost their voice. Pat Tobin helped people understand their talents, the resources at their disposal and the opportunities of which they could avail themselves if properly positioned around like-minded people. Pat Tobin’s weekly networking receptions were legendary.

The difference between a white boy with a Harvard degree and a brotha’ with a Harvard degree is the size of their social network. It really is not just what you know, but who know and what you show (can deliver) after you make the contact. White graduates inherit their father’s (and grandfather’s) social networks, which ultimately represent their business contacts. Black graduates, most of the time, have to build their own. Pat encouraged people to network with a purpose, and to get to know at least one person they didn’t know. That’s how you built your social and business network. In a city where you can go to three receptions and two parties on every night of the week, to this day, I don’t attend any event without the end-game in mind (a purpose) and I make one contact of significance that I didn’t have prior to attending the event. That’s how I’ve built my network for the last 25 years (and I have a helluva network). That, I learned from Pat Tobin.

Pat Tobin didn’t just tell people how to work together; she showed people how to do. She was a living testament, and practiced what she preached. More people knew Pat Tobin than knew her clients because she wanted it like that. She didn’t just talk about networking, she networked – she pulled her clients into her network and she made things happen. She was an example of the sermon you saw (see) – not the sermon you heard (hear). Thank you, Pat, for your example, showing many of us how to make our impact felt.