It’s time to make the critical shift from leading the business by yourself to leading an organization of people. At P2Excellence, we help you navigate the uncharted territories of organizational growth with clarity and confidence.
We’ve spoken many times on these pages about the importance of creating intentional networks, participating in the act of netweaving, and enabling the connector in you to flourish. Netweaving, of course, begins with the art of listening carefully in a conversation with the intention to be of assistance. It means making the conscious decision to think about “who” might be helpful and then making a connection. It means putting yourself out there, creating relationships between people you know, so that you both are well served by the connection.
Make no mistake about it, this takes work. Netweaving requires all of your skills in listening, researching, making connections, your knowledge of individuals in your network, and of course your follow up skills. Being good at netweaving means that you are a person who cares about others and their success and that you have made a commitment to yourself to be a connector, a helper, an encourager.
Creating an intentional network is the critical requirement of a strong netweaver. As I’ve encouraged you to do before, take a moment to think about your networks and answer these five questions:
- Is your network current?
Is your contact list up to date? When did you last make contact, get the latest updates, prune your list? Are you thorough in capturing contact information? - Is your network really a network?
The challenge with sites like LinkedIn is that they can make us think we have a much larger network than we really do. A network implies connection. So LinkedIn members aside, do you have a robust network? - Is your network actionable?
How many people in your network could you really reach out to for help and support? Is your network organized in ways that make it easy to connect? - Is your network diverse?
Do you have colleagues in all of “your” critical areas of interest? As you think about your career objectives, do you already know the people you need to know? Is your network built for tomorrow or just for today? - Do you give to your network?
Or are you, sadly, someone who thinks a network doesn’t require care and feeding?
The old adage, “It’s not always what you do; it’s who you know,” reminds us that taking responsibility to manage our relationships is important to our success. Creating strong intentional networks and serving others through our networks does require time, energy and intention. But then, most things that bring success do.
Let us hear your thoughts on the topic.
