Networking

About 18 years ago, when I joined EDS India as a Team Leader, I was asked if I would facilitate the ‘Team Leader Forum’. At that time, there were more than 25 Team Leaders across India who worked for clients in different industries. The TLF’s purpose was to connect all the TLs and provide them with an opportunity to highlight what was going on in their own accounts. They could share ‘Best Practices’ and ‘Lessons Learned’ from the many projects they executed. The TLs could also use these meetings to talk about how they handled management and leadership challenges. Knowing that an hour or two every two or three weeks would not hurt anyone, I started scheduling TLF sessions. I called up my peers one by one, introduced myself and asked them if they would like to make a presentation on their teams and what they were doing for their clients. I got to know all of them well over the next few months and to my delight, I found them invariably pleasant to talk to. They were eager to showcase their teams’ achievements and, like me, wanted to know each other better in the company. I made sure to thank them when they made a presentation and stayed in touch. A few years later, when I struck out on my own as a Trainer and Mentor, these TLs who had mostly moved on to different companies were a valuable network I could reach out to and ask for introductions to their L&D leaders.

I wish I could tell you that I asked to facilitate the TLF knowing that such networking would prove to be so useful later on. It was pure happenstance that I showed up when my boss was looking for someone to revive the TLF.

We are all told that networking is good for us and it is. But for many managers, it is distasteful. They think that those who have strong networks depend on a “it’s who you know, not what you know” approach to getting things done. Many managers think that there is something inherently dirty and selfish in networking, that it requires you to be self-promoting and inauthentic. And isn’t it a lot of work to network, ask others. Who has the time, is the constant refrain.

While networking is certainly a career-booster, I think it is much more than that. It can make our work-life more satisfying and rewarding. Can we reframe ‘networking’ then and thus become more comfortable with it? Here are some ways I have shifted my perspective on networking:

• Look at networking as opportunities to learn something new. Think of how much more effective you can be from a “it is what you know because of who you know” approach. Grapevines help us learn of what is happening before it ever comes out in a formal memo. Being in the know on trends in the industry can confer tremendous advantages when you are talking to a new client. And you can learn from people in other professions too. After all, you can connect the dots better when you have more dots to connect.
• Look at networking as opportunities to help someone. Networking is building mutually beneficial relationships. You can help others by providing information, connections, endorsements and advice. While a good turn is almost never forgotten, the act of helping others can be reward in itself. And interestingly, the more networked you are, the more you can help others.
• Look at networking as opportunities to identify like-minded people. One of the realities of our life today is that many of our friends are far away, many in different countries. Finding new friends who share our values and ideas gets harder as we get older and busier with our lives. If we don’t reach out, our friendships may be confined to interactions on social media only. I am glad I joined TIE; my membership in this forum for entrepreneurs yielded friendships that I value dearly. This small network helps me unwind sometimes at the end of a hectic week.
• Look at networking as opportunities to validate your ideas. Feedback on your products and services from the right people can be valuable and save you a lot of time and trouble. While this is true for all entrepreneurs, it is also true for all managers in a company, who now regularly have business growth as one of their goals.
• Look at networking as opportunities to help your organization. When you are a go-to person, a node, you facilitate the flow of information in your company making it more efficient. By being well-connected, you can show-case what your team and your company can do more effectively. You will be called on more often to talk to potential clients because you have connected more dots than others.

We network best perhaps when we set out to do something else, like collaborating on a new initiative, organizing a team outing, hosting client visits, arranging for a business school faculty to address your company or volunteering to manage an annual CSR day. Viewed with this lens, networking becomes a pleasure, not a chore. I’d like to hear from you on how you network and what you do to make the experience a natural part of your work-life.