Do you want to build an inclusive network of workers? How can you strategically build your professional connections?
Herminia Ibarra’s book, Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader, emphasizes the critical role of building an inclusive network for career advancement. Strategic networking goes beyond collecting business cards or LinkedIn connections—it’s about cultivating meaningful relationships across various organizational levels, industries, and backgrounds.
Continue reading to learn how to grow your professional network and advance your career.
Building a Strategic Professional Network
Building a diverse, well-connected, and dynamic inclusive network is crucial for gaining new perspectives and advancing your career. When seeking career progression, you need to expand your networks beyond your current stakeholders.
Breaking Free From Comfort Zones
Professionals often create insular and homogeneous networks by forming connections with peers who share their similarities or are in close proximity. In workshops aimed at fostering strategic relationships, participants typically include individuals from their current circles, leading to an assembly that seems varied yet lacks strategic significance. The capacity of a network to create diverse and new links is limited when a significant number of its members are interlinked.
Expanding Across Organizational Boundaries
Fostering relationships with peers from various organizational tiers and departments, as well as with individuals outside your company, is crucial. If you’re aspiring to leadership positions, you should cultivate connections with personnel who are positioned significantly above your current level, often extending across different departments or sectors, to fully understand the intricacies of senior management.
Building External Connections
You should cultivate a variety of relationships within your industry, forge ties with headhunters or those with eclectic professional trajectories, and harness your enthusiasm to build a broad array of connections. Engage in social media and be present at events beyond your primary duties, while also looking for chances to speak publicly to broaden your circle of professional acquaintances. For example, Chris leveraged his extensive connections within the organization to evaluate personnel suggestions, demonstrating the significance of a wide-ranging internal network.
Leveraging Resources for Leadership
A diverse network providing access to external information, opportunities, and resources bolsters strategic leadership. Leaders lacking a diverse network may find their viewpoint limited, potentially hindering their cognitive and leadership capabilities. You can bolster your standing and broaden your network within your industry by allocating resources to different projects, orchestrating events that resonate with customer interests, and speaking at industry gatherings.
Avoiding Echo Chambers
To break free from the constraints of a network that’s too inward-looking, you must proactively expand your circle of contacts beyond the usual acquaintances. People at lower levels often doubt the value of their contributions to networking and question the legitimacy of non-operational relationships. Jeff, for example, failed to acknowledge input from various departments within the company, thus risking the perpetuation of a cycle that only mirrored his own viewpoints.
Maintaining Network Vitality
To escape from the risks of an echo chamber, you must not only maintain your network but also consistently refresh it to reflect future roles. It’s crucial to nurture and value relationships with people who are outside the usual boundaries of your current network. Your network of contacts will evolve and remain in sync with your evolving responsibilities and future objectives.
Cultivating a strategic network necessitates prioritizing the establishment of relationships that are varied, robustly interconnected, and adaptable. By actively extending your network beyond current limits and moving away from isolation, you can maximize the potential of your professional relationships and advance your career.
