9 ways to serve your professional network
Effective network is all about authentic reciprocity. Should the time come where you need to lean on your network - for example, if you’re looking for a new role - you’re far more likely to be met with success if you’ve been genuinely serving your network before the need arose.
I recently had a conversation with someone who spoke of squeezing their network. Whilst I knew he meant no harm in this choice of expression, it got me thinking about the principles that lie behind building a strong professional network. There are, in my mind, some guiding principles when it comes to networking. In this blog, I’ll run through both these and 9 ways in which you can serve and add value to your network.
Meaningful networking
Building meaningful professional relationships requires time. You have to add value, steadily and consistently, in a way in which your network contacts will ultimately feel well disposed towards you. Perhaps, taking a fairly stark view of this, we can think of Dr Robert Cialdini’s book Influence, and the theory that adding value to others naturally induces a sense of reciprocity. That said, you’re unlikely to have an effective and valuable professional network if your contacts feel you’re only doing it for self-serving reasons. It shouldn’t be with the end goal of exploiting your network for your own gain, but rather because it’s the right thing to do. And ultimately, you have faith that what goes around comes around. It’s this consistency and authenticity that will pay dividends when the time is right.
This then begs the question: what are specific things that I can do to nurture my professional network for all the right reasons?
Here are 9 ideas I typically discuss with my coaching clients:
Reach out at least twice a year | You can send a message for Christmas/New Year and then again one more time. Perhaps, that second message might be to celebrate the person’s birthday or professional anniversary. Consistency is key.
Low intensity | Ensure that your networking activities are not time consuming. If they are, you’re unlikely to be able to be consistent and eventually, you’ll lose momentum. 5 or 10 minutes each day, with perhaps a networking meeting every few weeks, is much more realistic. You’re more likely to be able to stick to that level of activity, and it’s that consistency that will pay off in the long-run.
Event driven contact | Imagine that you see that a firm has announced lay-offs or that a team has just closed a significant deal. If any of your contacts are involved or could be impacted, then this is an opportunity to reach out and offer genuine support or congratulations.
Share career opportunities | If you hear of firms that are hiring to their team, then let anyone relevant in your network know.
Make introductions | Clearly, this can be very useful for both parties, for career advancement or generating new business. You’re demonstrating your ability to create mutually beneficial relationships for others.
Add value on LinkedIn | You, of course, don’t want to be just adding to the ‘noise’ by being active on the platform without much thought. On the contrary, if you see a post or article that you believe genuinely adds value, you can share it and perhaps comment on it. You’ll be supporting the person who posted and you’ll be helping those LinkedIn contacts who may find the post useful and insightful.
LinkedIn endorsements and recommendations | You’ll add value to your contacts by doing relevant endorsements and recommendations. This can make the world of a difference when someone is applying for a new job.
Organise events | Getting people together for drinks or a dinner after work can be a great way to introduce people for the first time and to renew friendships with those that haven’t seen one another for some time. This can be very time efficient too, perhaps more so than a one to one meeting.
Celebrate! | When one of your contacts has a success, you can offer your congratulations. This might be achieving something like closing a big transaction, getting promoted, and so on. It’s a big deal for them and they’ll welcome your good wishes.
In summary, professional networking is all about serving others by adding value because it’s the right thing to do. It needs to be done thoughtfully, consistently and with the right intention. Sooner or later, you’ll need some help and when you do, you’ll have an army of people who are only too willing and able to help you.
If you’d like some advice on how to build and nurture your professional network, let’s talk. You can schedule a free 15-minute call here.