Take ownership of your network
You have to take ownership of your own network. Move away from how many people you know to discovering who are the people you need to know. Building a more valuable network means taking back control and approaching your actions and connections with strategic deliberation. Of course we know this and yet something about how we are networking right now just isn’t working.
Most of our connections are superficial and transactional. Conversations have become brief and fleeting. You may be part of a network group or two, have a list of contacts and a stack of connections across various social media platforms but how many of your contacts do you really know? How many truly know you? How many of your contacts honestly care about you and your success? Are you doing things to help each other achieve your goals?
In ‘Building an Innovation Factory’ (HBR, May 2000), Andrew Hargadon and Robert I Sutton discuss how to broker and capture good ideas for true and long-lasting effect. One of the companies studied is IDEO, an international design and consulting firm founded in Palo Alto, California.
The most respected people at IDEO are:
- Part pack ratThey have great private collections of stuff
- Part librarianThey know who knows what
- Part Good SamaritanThey go out of their way to share what they know and to help others.
Approach your network in a similar way. You need a personal:
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Board of Advisers that bring out the best in you
We invest in personal trainers for our fitness goals, financial advisers for our investment goals, even meditation teachers for our work–life goals.
It is just as important to invest in a personal board of advisers as a sounding board and safety net to explore your ideas and plan your next career steps. Your boardroom provides encouragement, support and inspiration.
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Intelligence Bank that sustains you over the long term
Think of building your network as creating a personal ‘intelligence bank’. Invest in it the same way a child makes regular coin deposits into their piggybank.
The heavier the piggybank becomes, the more they have saved to purchase something important to them later. Invest in the right people with the right skills and it will pay dividends over the long term.
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Marketing Machine that champions you and your cause
Without a marketing machine around you, your ability to create change and build engagement and influence is limited. To really drive your net worth and influence, you have to tap into what’s around you.
Your strategic network will keep your focus laser sharp. Moreover, it can help guide you towards the decisions you need to make to move forwards. As American sociologist Roald Burt put it, “Instead of better glasses, your network gives you better eyes.”