The Influence Blog
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 Investing in your Network"I know I need to network, but I never seem to find the time" is
a concern that many people share with me in the mentoring work I do. They have been sold on the
benefits, and have even made sure that they have the skills to do it effectively. Yet somehow,
life seems to push it to the bottom of the list of things to do. Often the
reason is that they don't see an immediate payoff. Time is money and networking takes time - sometimes
quite a lot of time. And it is true that most networking yields a payback in the medium to long
term, and only occasionally in the very short term. Here are three thoughts for you to boost your
networking effort... 1. Regard networking as a shrewd investment. How
much of your success today is linked to networking you have done in the past? 2. What
is your long term career/life goal? Focus networking towards that for increased
motivation. For example before I'd written a book, I realised I needed to get other
authors in my network and I was really motivated to strive for that. 3. Organise around
medium term goals. Think about what you want to achieve next year. To help achieve that, what
type of people do you need to add to your network? Ok, a fourth point - try to
make it a habit to do a little networking each day - if only sending an email to someone you've
not been in touch with for a while. Posted by Colin Gautrey on 07-Jul-2010 10:04:27 BST
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Great topic. I'd like to add to find a way to network that is comfortable with who you are. Not an extrovert? Me either... So, as I meet people, I stay connected with only those who I really feel a connection with. This makes the time I spend on networking worthwhile and consistent with my self-image. Networking with "strangers" feels inauthentic and fraudulent to me. Don't know why, it's just not how I like to do things. Once I gave myself permission to network in ways that felt congruent with how I like to approach relationships (whether deeper or more informal) then the time spent felt better and worth it. Posted by Kopitzee Parra-Thornton on 07-Jul-2010 20:37:26 BST | Colin, Thanks for posting this. As well as validating the value of networking, you
sowed the seed of extending the definition of networking today . Do you have any data that
categorizes and compares the effectiveness various forms of social media "networking" vis-a-vis
traditional face to face meetings ? Jimm NYC Posted by Anon on 10-Jul-2010 19:06:13 BST | Networking definitely comes more natural when you are open to meet new people and have mastered good listening skills. This may take practice and I don’t think it should be forced; however to Colin’s point, it is very beneficial to make the investment. Like many other human emotions, it is important to get out of your head when speaking with those that you seek mentorship, coaching, positions or referrals from. People don’t like individuals that are pushy. My experience is that networking is most natural when you are humble, confident and charming. Posted by Jasmin Thomson on 12-Jul-2010 06:52:13 BST | Even though I specialise in teaching networking skills, and am very familiar with data sources on the subject, I’ve never come across any research which provides the data that Jimm is looking for about the relative effectiveness about social media vs. face-to-face networking. But his comment also begs a wider question. Discussing the issue with my colleague Tony Newton, we felt that the distinction between different methods of networking is an artificial one. Social media are simply one tool which the skilled networker puts to good – but not exclusive – use, along with their face-to-face interpersonal skills. It’s easy to meet people on line; it’s harder to build lasting, trusting relationships… Posted by Judith Perle on 17-Jul-2010 15:03:38 BST | Judith, I totally agree, social media is just one of many tools for networking. And I'm not
sure it would be possible to quantify "effectiveness" of different medium because of the range
of different objectives. Arguably it is more effective for getting to "know" people, but face to
face would be more effective in getting to "understand" people. I do however believe that it
is possible to build lasting and trusting relationships without ever meeting. My second book,
Political Dilemmas at Work, was written with Gary Ranker from New York, and I didn't physically meet
him until after the book was published. Using a combination of email/telephone and skype/msn we
were able to build an excellent relationship. Posted by Colin Gautrey on 18-Jul-2010 07:41:23 BST |
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