Harvard Business Review in fall edition launched a special on “The new rules of networking”. Here are the most important points:
Networking fundamentals
👉 Networking today is not optional, it is a necessity.
👉 Whether you are looking for a job or leading a company, networking is key to making yourself visible.
👉 To achieve healthy networking, consider the following:
🔺 Focus on learning: curiosity is the key
🔺 Identify common interests: kids, pets, hobbies…
🔺Think broadly about what you can give: find something valuable to offer by thinking beyond the obvious.
🔺 Find a higher purpose: any work activity becomes more attractive when it’s linked to a higher goal.
👉 To do this, some these quick tasks:
🔺 We’re losing touch with our networks: trying to understand how networks work, reaffirm what’s important to you, and keep the focus on reconnection.
🔺 How to email someone you haven’t talked to in forever: Shift your perspective, nobody wants to be seen as the person who reaches out to someone only when they need something from them.
🔺 Acknowledge the absence of contact. Calling out the elephant in the room can also ease the awkwardness.
🔺 Pay attention to tone. Making requests that sound either desperate or demanding can not only result in your request being denied or ignored but also taint to other person’s view of you.
🔺 Give them an out. By recognizing that they may be short on time to fulfill your request, giving the other person an out will help both you and your contact save face if they cannot help you.
🔺 Offer to reciprocate.
👉 How successfully people network with each other: The typical advice that’s given to entry-level employees – invite people to coffee! Connect with them on Linkedin!- it simply doesn’t work for people at the top of their careers. Instead, you need to leverage an entirely different strategy, something call “inbound networking”. This is a term to refer to the practice of creating valuable content. Three ways to do that:
🔺 Identify what sets you apart: Share something that seems exotic: education, achievements, background…
🔺 Become a connoisseur, and show genuine expertise.
🔺 Become the center of the network: “the best way to get invited to the party is to host the party.
👉 Writing an email introduction.
🔺 Introduce yourself briefly
🔺 State your motive
🔺 Do your homework: show that you’ve researched the third party
🔺 Make it easy for them: Close the forwardable email with an easy-to-connect with you.
🔺 Expect a double opt-in introduction.
🔺 Send a calendar invite: Calendly is a good option
🔺 Most important, express gratitude
👉 How to connect with powerful people. This for sure the most difficult part so try to follow this advice:
🔺 Be recommended
🔺 Play up your similarities
🔺 Bring value
🔺 Use flattery: tap into the ego
🔺 Ask a be persistent
👉 The power of your network is the “ask”