Networks have a mind of their own. When they work as they should, they can enhance our business lives in very big ways. But they can also pull focus and time away from other important business development efforts.
Networks are not created overnight and then need attention. Left neglected, they can languish and fall away.
Recently, I came across a fine piece in the Harvard Business Review about people with really successful networks and why and how they work. In their piece Managing Yourself: A Smarter Way to Network, the authors describe the key attributes of really good networks and the people who use them wisely and well.
Good networks don’t have to be big, but they do need to be effective. They need to include key participants that not only actually DO something when asked, but also provide ideas and support.
I have long been a believer that being generous in your own network, is the only way one can expect generosity back. “Reciprocal relationships also tend to be more fruitful; the most successful leaders always look for ways to give more to their contacts,” say the authors of Managing Yourself. And this point is noted over and over again.
One of the most effective executives interviewed for the piece described her business success managing a major tech company’s business unit this way: ” ‘People may chalk it up to luck, but I think more often than not luck happens through networks where people give first and are authentic in all they do.’ ”
If you are not thinking about “giving” and “generosity” in your own network when asked, and if you are not reciprocating without hesitation, it is urgently important that you study the HBR piece for the data that will alter your approach and help you develop a better, more effective network. And, if you are a giver and find that some in your network are not, remove them from your network. But whatever you do, when someone in your networks seeks your support and has given theirs, withhold at your own peril.