Networking 101

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It is common advice to “network.” I never knew how powerful and important doing so was until I got laid off and needed to find another job quickly. I had built up a reasonably good one mostly by chance. But through that process, I realized I needed to give this effort much more focus and attention. In the years since, I found networking to be powerful and fun when I approached it as a priority and with intention.

Based on my experience, here are the three things I recommend you do now to build your optimal networking “village”.

Assess your current network

Think through what type of network you have. Ask yourself these questions:
How am I connected with my network? Is it school, work, family, value, or culturally based? Or is it some combination?

The answers will give you a clue as to where your network is strong and where you might have opportunities.

I had a senior technical leader from India ask me recently, “Why do you think the team I am hiring almost all have a profile similar to mine?” I told him candidly, “I am guessing your network is pretty narrow and you are drawing from that pool.” He then follow up with, “What do I need to do to change that?” Short term, I told him he should ensure he is looking at a broader pool of candidates but longer term, the best answer is to expand his network.

Most people have networks that resemble them in important ways. The key is to identify where you need to be more intentional because your network will not grow those directions without some action on your part.

Identify the network you wish you had

Think broadly about where you see yourself over the course of your life. If you have aspirations to be a writer, do you have publishing contacts in your network?

Also consider what type of network you need on a personal level. When I adopted my daughter from Ethiopia, I realized I didn’t have a network to support my new role as a parent to a child of different race and culture. And when she became a professional, my network didn’t include enough people she would see herself in.

If you need a new job or are starting a new venture, do you have a network that can support those efforts? When I started managing engineers, I realized I needed a more technical network to gain a better understanding of this discipline.

When you are building a team like the leader above, does your next work connect you to the diverse set of talent you need?

Ideally your network will assist you professionally and personally both for where you are now and where you hope to be in the future. Paint the picture of what that would look like.

Make a plan and make the time

You now know the network you have versus the one you wish you did. Identify a few key things you can do to close the gap immediately and build out a 100 day plan to continue to make progress to get close to your ideal.

For example to grow an Ethiopian network, I connected with Ethiopian professionals on Linked In; I included an explanatory note and the welcome was over-whelming positive. I engaged in community activities where I could learn and meet people who were potential contacts and many over time also became friends.

To increase my technical network, I sought out technical leaders in adjacent spaces to mine and set up time with them. I also asked the technical members of team for book recommendations so I could learn and more ably engage in those meetings.

Then you need to block off time to make that happen. I like to set up a few coffee chats/catch ups a month and find a book that extends my perspective. I set them up at the beginning of the month before my calendar is filled up and I am tempted to say, “I just don’t have time”. I regularly connect with contacts through Linked In – both new ones I meet and ones I lost track of over the years. I see that as a valuable use of my time.

We all need a village but we don’t have the settle for the one we have now. We can and should build the village we need and deserve.

Next post will be how to make the most of each networking engagement and ultimately of the village you built. I will include some good strategies for the introverts out there who might think this is all too much for them – hint, there are ways to make it less painful and maybe even enjoyable.

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