Power Networking: How Well Do You Do It?

Relationships are the bread of career life. So make and break bread with others.

In times of change, contacts are the sources of information, opportunity and even power. Don’t let your everyday responsibilities isolate you from others. Move out from behind your desk. Move around in a variety of circles. Move quickly, eat hardy and often. Consider your current assignment as temporary and maintaining your networking as permanent. You never know who will play an important role in your evolving career or life.

Evaluate Your Network

You need to examine three factors: the size, the diversity, and the strength of your contacts. Here’s how:

• List the key people who are in your career world inside and outside your company.
  How many people do you know? The greater the size or number, the more access you have to information and support.
• Review that list and write down what they do or who they work for.
  Are most of your contacts in your functional area or profession? Or are there linkages to other parts of your organization and outside to customers, suppliers and others?
• Assess the quality of those relationships. Are they strong or weak?
  One way to decide strength is: How soon will they return your phone call or email, if at all?) The stronger the ties, the more you can go to the well for water – the more you can ask for their time and contacts.

Career Success Tip:

Power networking is not just the number of contacts you have but the breadth of those contacts. If you have a diverse and strong network, you then can tap into a wide variety of resources and information. How well are you networked? How well do you connect for success?

Readers, let me hear of your success stories. How did networking get you your present job or a great project or opportunity or partners for your business venture?

Do you want to develop Career Smarts?

Marcia Zidle