Chapter 18: Strategic Networking-Does Your Network Match Your Ambition?
Situation: You've got an idea of the dream job you would like to have two to five years from now. It is time to start thinking of networking as a strategic action you take toward your intended career goals and objectives. Can we offer to be your mentor on this?
I am sitting in a charming French cafe, sipping cafe latte and awaiting the arrival of my client, Sam Bronson. Sam is manager of research and development for a very large pharmaceutical company based in New Jersey. He is intelligent and hardworking, good with his people, and produces consistent results. He is very much a "straight-up" kind of guy, hates corporate politics, and just wants to be left alone to get the job done. Changes are afoot, however, in the pharmaceutical industry. Two days earlier, his company announced a merger with another company, with a major commitment to reduce staff and operating costs.
Sam walks up to meet me, visibly downcast and worried, with a newspaper under his arm. After our initial greeting, he tells me, "You know, Michel, for all the public talk about this being a merger of equals, it is really closer to a take-over of our company by the other company. Most of the new senior management, including the new CEO, are from the other company, and the 'buzz' has it that that even the people in the top jobs are in jeopardy. I realize that for the last twenty years, I have had my head down driving priorities, and never thought I might be in a position to lose my job. I am somewhat confused and confounded and just don't know what to do. I even found myself looking through the 'Employment Section' of the classifieds this morning."
"Sam," I said, "You're a great guy with a solid track record, but listen, events like this make everyone feel a little shaky. I am sure you have a lot of resources at your disposal, both inside and outside the company, to create your next job without resorting to the classifieds. You have been a core producer for twenty years. Let's take a look at things from the point of view that you are the center of a large network of individuals, who know you, like you, and have a great appreciation of what you can accomplish."
Even as I said this, I could see Sam shaking his head. "Michel, you don't understand; I'm just not that kind of person. My company is like my whole universe and I live and work within a very defined area. I don't know many people, and to tell you the truth, meeting new people sometimes makes me uncomfortable. I just like to focus on the job. I've never really taken to those guys who are always bragging up the chain of command about how great they are. It''s just more politics, and has nothing to do with producing results. I hate those games!"
"Sam, I can appreciate how certain 'self-promoters' can be a turn-off, but that is not what I am talking about here. I am also not speaking of 'playing politics, with all the negative connotations that conjures up. My job as your coach is to empower you in the face of the current reality-to give you a different way of looking at the situation and a new place to stand with respect to your future in a way that you can take effective action on the path to that future. And to do this, you will need to shift profoundly how you view the relationships you currently have and the task of building new ones appropriate to the career you want."
Sam looked even more downcast (if that was possible). "Michel, this is just not one of my skills. It's out of my league."
"That's okay!" I grinned, "Learning new skills always makes us feel like that!"
* * * * *
A few days later, I had a coaching session with Josh Friedman, a manager in the same company as Sam, and was struck by the difference in his interpretation of the same event. Josh held a parallel position to Sam, and had worked for a similar period. Josh was an engaging, agreeable fellow and, like Sam, he had a track record of producing results. The one distinction between Josh and Sam was that Josh had a passion for people, and during his twenty years with the company had met and come to know individuals at all levels and in all areas of the company.
On hearing the news of the merger, he only saw the opportunity in change. He had already spoken with his boss and his peers to gauge their views, and had set up a meeting with his counterpart in the other organization. His boss had informed Josh that he was a committed advocate for him in the new organization and that. because Josh was so widely known and respected, there were many different roles possible for him in the future. In addition, Josh had received two calls from individuals outside the company, who were interested in acquiring his services.
Because Josh had a clear vision of where he was headed in his career and the individuals and conversations that would assist him in achieving his goals, he did not feel threatened by the merger. As a consequence, he was able (to a much greater extent that Sam) to remain focussed on delivering his current priorities, calming the fears of those around him, and keeping his people motivated to produce their objectives while, at the same time, being pro-active in creating their future careers-all of which behaviours enhanced Josh's already strong prospects for the future.
Teachable Point of View: Think about your highest career aspirations, and then network with high intention to realize them.
We live in a highly individualized culture, and therefore, even in a large corporation, we have a strong tendency to see ourselves as separate entities, struggling to produce our individual objectives. There may be some who are naturally gifted with "people skills" and who know lots of people, but that generally doesn't apply to many of us. We may be uncomfortable in meeting new people and, consequently, avoid doing so unless it is absolutely necessary. At any rate, we often tell ourselves, "It is not something that we need to do to accomplish what we desire."
In reality, however, this is a highly distorted view of how human beings and human systems function-particularly in today's very interconnected work environments. We are social creatures by nature and power depends on circulation and social interaction. In fact, in every area of human accomplishment, all achievement ultimately rests on the strength, depth, and extent of the network of relationship among and beyond the key individuals involved. To state the obvious, your ability as a manager to deliver on your objectives today is directly proportional to the relationships you have created with a host of individuals-from your current and previous bosses to your direct reports to your suppliers to your customers.
Whether we are speaking of a gubernatorial candidate, a talented engineer with a promising new design, or a composer of the stature of Beethoven, success has always depended on whether or not the individual in question has a vision of themselves and/or their project far greater than the present, and has the ability to enroll others in key and prominent positions to their cause.
Power today means being connected. It means seeing the world as a great web of interconnected networks of individuals. As you start to examine this web, you see that there are certain people who are the hubs of their own individual networks and that connect with other hubs. These are people regarded as movers and shakers-people who have the ability to engage large groups of people and are able to access like individuals across society.
These are people like Washington lawyer, Vernon Jordan, and his wife, Ann, who in 1998 sat on seventeen boards combined. Jordan currently sits on ten boards, including American Express, Dow Jones, Revlon, and Xerox. George Bush became president in part by building up a network of political allies throughout the country, primarily by sending thousands of Christmas cards. In the sports world, super agents like the former Bob Wolfe, play a key world in connecting talent and teams. These people are like hubs in the great web of relationships that links us all. Hubs are individuals of extraordinary reach, influence, and connection. If you want to increase your power and effectiveness, you need to get connected to the hubs.
What we are talking about here is strategic networking. It is relationship building by design. It requires a shift in perception whereby you begin to see the patterns of relatedness and connectivity that flow between and among us all. And, as with the forces of gravity or electro-magnetism- they are invisible, yet powerful enough to shape the physical events of our universe-you begin to notice where the energy fields are the strongest (that is, where the hubs are). Strategic networking is the deliberate and strategic action of evaluating your long-term vision and career goals in the context of the important relationships needed for success. It consists of (a) identifying the specific individuals or networks that, because of power, reach, access, or influence, are critical to your future (hubs) and (b) investing the time, research, thought and creativity required to establish and maintain long-term connections.
Finally, strategic networking is the purposeful and thoughtful process by which one builds and creates a web of relationship that is broad enough, deep enough, and powerful enough to fulfill a vision or a career goal for the future. Strategic networking involves creating and standing for a long-term vision or career goal, identifying the individuals or networks of people that are important to or part of achieving that vision, and intentionally and attentively creating those relationships.
Template for Action
1. Create your future and stand for it. Where do you want to be in your career in three years, five years? In ten? What do you want to contribute to your company, your community, the world? Think big. Give voice to your deepest longings? What is your vision of where you will be in your career? Or where your career will take you? Write it down. Then take a stand for this possibility. See yourself as fulfilling this vision.
2. Identify your existing network. Write down the people in your current network of relationship. Identify who they are and, if you can, whether or not they are positioned as a hub of a powerful network of others. What is the quality of each relationship? Is the quality, reach, and power of your current network of relationship sufficient to who you are committed to becoming and what you want to achieve?
3. Identify your strengths and weaknesses as a relationship builder. Regardless of your level of skill at building effective relationships, you are currently part of a network that you have created. Within the context of what you have already created, identify habits, ways of being, or actions that have been successful for you. What do you feel are areas of weakness? What is missing in your ability to establish deep and lasting relationships?
4, Identify your personal "stops." Make a list of all the internal reasons or blocks that stop you from taking effective action. For example, "I am uncomfortable meeting new people," "I don't know what to say," "I don't know whom to call." Once you have made your list exhaustive, commit to putting these internal blocks to one side-do not give them living space-and keep focussed on action.
5. Commit to building a network equal in power to your vision of yourself and your career, and to learn and master the skills needed to do this. Networking is about creating and investing in relationships with people-getting to know people, making a genuine connection on a human level, and staying in touch. It cannot be self-serving or results-based, although it can and should be part of a greater vision and commitment regarding your career and/or project. Many of us feel we lack some (or perhaps all) of the skills required to be effective at this. But remember that relationship building, like any other art or skill, requires practice and reflection. In fact, like learning a foreign language, becoming an individual whom people at all levels of society enjoy being around, demands constant exposure and circulation. The more you are in contact with others, the more at ease you will become.
6. Create a project to build your network of relationships intentionally and strategically. Standing in the future you are committed to creating with respect to your career, identify the key people who can impact or contribute to that future. Generally, these people would be considered to be hubs of much greater networks. Create a long-term strategy for developing your relationship with each of them. What are their interests? What are the present opportunities for meeting with each? What of your long-term vision is it appropriate to discuss? What questions could you ask that would generate interest in this person for you and your future? Prepare for each conversation, and practice until you feel at ease. Be open and flexible in the actual conversation.
7. Create a role model. Find someone who embodies the skills, practices, and behaviours that you wish to acquire, someone from whom you feel inspired to learn. Observe her in action. Pick her brains. Ask for advice. It really is the quickest path to mastery to seek out and apprentice to someone who has mastered what you wish to learn.
8. Give yourself a break! Have some space to be nervous or clumsy. Remember, nobody masters a new skill overnight. Most of all be open, authentic, and engaged, with a commitment to the person in front of you.
9. Be your own best manager. Establish priorities, objectives, and timelines for your "relationship-building project." Set time aside, debrief your meetings, and follow-up promptly on requests and opportunities. Look for innovative ways to fulfill your project goals. Review your overall project from time to time to make the necessary adjustments to fulfill your long-term vision.