Reader Challenge #5: Weekly Networking

A friend was telling me recently about a time when he applied for a senior-level position within his current role. While I think he would have been a great fit for the role, he wasn't given an opportunity to even interview for the position. When asking why his consideration was denied, it was purported that somebody in upper management contended that nobody knew who he was.

I'm not a fan of that philosophy because what that person was saying is "We're not going to evaluate the merits of this candidate because we don't personally know him." Isn't that the whole purpose of interviewing...?

Anyway, it brings to light a reality that pretty much everybody faces within organization: the importance of networking and relationship building. Doing good work sometimes just isn't enough. Sometimes, it is indeed about who you know.

Of course, there are many other benefits to networking aside from schmoozing for a promotion. Sometimes you get to know people in another area of the organization that can help your area's work effort. There's also the simple fact that friendships are built upon networking relationships. Regardless of your purpose, there's no doubt networking is critical to success.

To that end, it is important for us to be intentional about our relationship building. My challenge for you all is to reach out and get to know one person per week. This is definitely a longer term challenge than the other ones I've proposed, and I will definitely be working through this one myself.

Because this is an intrusive challenge, I feel the need to set some guidelines for everybody to follow:

1. Be respectful of the person's time. If they agree to meet for an hour, don't go over that hour unless they want to extend the conversation.
2. Understand that people will decline or not respond. It's a fact of life that people will not be interested in meeting with you. I wouldn't take that as a personal insult. Shake it off and move on.
3. Understand the give-and-take nature of networking. You can't always expect to meet with people and only better yourself all the time. There will perhaps be times when people request things of us. Because of how gracious everybody else will be in meeting with you, it's only just to having a giving mind yourself. And speaking of being gracious...
4. Thank the person that meets with you. Most organizations frown upon giving gifts to one another because of quid pro quo issues, so I advise against that. But there is nothing stopping you from sending a thank you note / email to that person. Show gratitude to the person that shared their time and wisdom with you.

I don't think this is going to be an easy challenge for a lot of people, including myself. Actually, I kind of underwent this challenge a few years back when I was still an intern at Country Financial. I found that most people at that time were super gracious and willing to meet with me.

Even now, though, this challenge makes me nervous. If you feel nervous, know you're not alone. This is just one of those cases where some of the best things in life are some of the most difficult to do!