Forget the old boys' network, start your own The latest figures show women make up just over 16pc of FTSE board posts - with the UK aiming to bring this up to only 25pc by 2015. It is not a lack of ambition but rather fear that is holding us back. Whilst men see the potential success, women see the potential failure. Most women are content to stay in their comfort zone for fear of not fitting in or receiving negative feedback, when really we should be at the forefront of business development and networking. If women remain under-represented at the table of senior and executive management, how then do we expect to dictate what goes on the menu? How many of us have gone home with a new business card, and months later that card is sitting at the bottom of a drawer catching dust? Starting a conversation without a follow-up is the reason why many of us fail to strengthen those initial connections. Depending on the contact, LinkedIn or adding them to a business mailing list can be an effective way of keeping them engaged in your network in a non-committal way. We all have a responsibility to be well-networked and accessible, to be able to effectively extend leverage beyond the old boys' club. It doesn't matter how great an employee or entrepreneur you are, if no-one knows about you or what you do then you lose out. Networking is about building and developing meaningful relationships with people where there is a mutual benefit. It is the art of figuratively placing post-it notes on the minds of others to draw on your area of expertise and influence. In the words of British novelist Jane Howard: "call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.