Chapter 8: Navigating career growth
Extend the possibilities and your fulfillment by connecting with your network.
Connecting with your network can lead to new possibilities and can provide fulfillment from relating and connecting with other people.
Exercise:
Identify your network. Who is in your network? Who are your co-workers? Your family? Your friends? People in groups you associate with? People in associations you’re in? Alumni from school or organizations? Other people that you have engaged with in the past.
Frequency. Determine the frequency that you’d like to engage with each contact. Some individuals may be weekly (co-workers, family, friends). Other individuals may be quarterly (mentors, acquaintances). And, others may be every 6 months or once a year. Set an intention of how often you’d like to meet with each person or reach out to them with an email or chat.
System. Set up a system to remember to reach out to contacts. You can set a calendar reminder with a link to a file that has your contacts and the frequency. You can have a reminder to reach out to one person each day. Identify a system that you think will work for you to remember and actually reach out to contacts regularly. Also, establish a system for capturing notes about what you discussed and what’s important to each contact.
Content. When reaching out to each contact, focus on providing value. Value can be an insight, a resource, an upcoming event, an article, or a genuine interest in how they’re doing.
Future network. As you develop your career development plan or see areas in your life where you’d like to grow, assess if your network currently meets the needs, or if you’d like to expand your network. Look for people in these new areas, look at existing connections, and/or reach out to introduce yourself. The worst that can happen is they say no or don’t respond. It’s better than if you never try.