Building and nurturing a network is one of the most
powerful things you can do to support your career advancement. Never underestimate the power of
people, people are everywhere, we meets people everywhere, in the market,
churches, classrooms, conferences, trainings, social media and even in the buses.
People come across our way almost
every time and we don’t consider the level of connection they have, some with
positive intention and some with bad intention, however, the network of people
you have or you know solely depend on how far you will reach or go in life.
Has it ever crossed your mind that the world’s
most successful business leaders are also incredible at building relationships,
partnership and networking among themselves? This is not because they want to
outshine themselves but majorly to expand their businesses, and to gain more
influence among other things.
According
to Porter Gale in one of her books she said and I quote “your network is your net worth”,
this is absolutely true, the more people you know the faster your
acceleration will be, get connected with people of influence, don’t just sideline
yourself, the world is moving fast, don’t be left behind.
Thrive
on meeting new people, engage in volunteering, enroll for a short courses, get training
on how to speak new languages, all these are avenue to network yourself and
meet new people, don’t just sit still and be expecting miracle from heaven, believe in connections, relationship and
partnership as they are key indicator to your success, happiness and
productivity.
Consider these
points carefully It will help you tremendously,
1. Store/Save
your contacts very well.
When you
network yourself among the elites get their contacts and store it save. I
remember the first job I got after my graduation it was thru my roommate who
connected with one of the top men in the industry. The rest are now story.
While it’s important to build a
network of contacts to support your career goal, it’s equally important to
nurture the relationships you have. Former colleagues, bosses, roommates, friends
already know the value you offer and can recommend you for new opportunities.
It pays to stay in touch. I know from my own experience how important these
relationships are. So cherish your contacts with high esteem.
2. Network proactively
Consider this,
what happens if you don’t have a strong network, and suddenly you lose your
job? If you don’t have a network to tap into, it will most likely take you much
longer to find a new position. And how can you get information about a jobs or worknew
boss if you don’t have a network of people to provide that information?
Networking
proactively provides an advantage by supporting you with a powerful collection
of people who are willing and able to speak for you on an ongoing basis. The
network is there for you when you need it because you’ve built the social
capital.
3.
Be strategic.
Strategic networking is
more than socializing and swapping business cards, it’s creating solid
relationships to support your career aspirations. It takes focus and intention
to build such a network, but it’s invaluable for your professional development.
Women’s failure to network strategically is one of the career pitfalls cited by
Barbara Annis and Associates in their White Paper, Solutions to Women’s Advancement.
“While men network for
transactional reasons, women will network for relational reasons. That is, men
will network to obtain something, while women network for relationships and
connections.” Identify who you know and who you need to know to help you
reach your career goal and build a power network to support your advancement.
4. Create a
diverse network.
In order to network
effectively, you need to move out of your comfort zone and identify people who
can help your career, not just those people you like.
Research from University of
Chicago Booth School of Business on this topic confirms the importance of a
diverse network. “Indeed, it might not be who or what you know that creates
advantage, but rather more simply, who you become by dint of how you hang
out—the disadvantaged hang out with folks just like themselves, while the
advantaged engage folks of diverse opinion and practice.”
5. Focus your social media
networking efforts.
One would think that because we are
constantly connected online, that networking in this manner is easy. After all,
we have the potential for tremendous exposure to a vast network of people.
However, online professional networking is not without challenges.
It is difficult to cut through all
the noise. The number of people who connect with us is daunting and as a
result, it’s easy to lose our strategic focus. Someone approaches us on
Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, or any other social network and asks to connect
and our first response is to say ok. We end up with a huge network of people we
don’t know and who offer us no value. It’s wiser to look carefully at their
profiles to determine if you want that person in your network. If you determine
there is some commonality, then reply and set up some time to talk and initiate
a relationship. The point is that the number of contacts in your online network
is not nearly as important as the quality.
In summary, when you network in a
strategic manner it help and support your career aspirations. The best way to
move your career ahead is to build and nurture mutually beneficial connections
with people who can speak for you and create the visibility you need to
succeed.
Enjoy your day!
