Cultural Resolution

It’s January, and the gyms are all full of people who made New Year’s Resolutions to get fit.  Business and professional association meetings are also packed with people who made resolutions to start networking more, even if they’re not exactly sure what that means.

Business cards, we know it involves exchanging business cards (though we often don’t do anything with them once we have them). And going to events. So we go to an event, and stand about feeling awkward because we don’t know anyone, or find the one person we do know and spend the whole time with them.  But after doing the event thing a couple of times, and not seeing any benefit, like the January crowd at the gym, we lose interest in networking.

But just as getting and staying fit requires a change in lifestyle, so building a powerful network is about changing the way you view networking.  Here are a few thoughts for getting started:

• Start with your existing network.  Not to discourage anyone from attending a networking event, but you probably already know plenty of people that you haven’t taken the time to develop into solid contacts, haven’t build a real relationship with.  Have you gotten to know them well enough to know how you can help them, who you can introduce them to, what resources they might need?  Try going through those old business cards and doing some of the follow-up you never got around to. Get in touch with the people you haven’t talked to or seen in months, just to catch up.
• Be a matchmaker.  When you meet someone new (or are catching up with and old contact), always be thinking who else in your network they should get to know.  Put people together. Think of your network not as a wheel with you at the hub and spokes linking you to individual contacts, but an intricate web of connections that cross-connect and all link back to you.
• Look for opportunities to benefit your network.  Even though I’m not in the market for a job, I always cultivate relationships with recruiters I meet.  They know I have an extensive network of communication professionals, and that I’ll always take the time to help them find good candidates.  People in my network benefit by hearing about great opportunities. I benefit because over the years I’ve helped dozens of my friends and contacts get jobs (or at least get in the door, they did the rest). Those are the kinds of favours that come back to you.
• Become known as a resource-finder.  I love it when people come to me with the question that begins “Do you know anyone who….”  Need a lawyer, dentist, graphic designer, freelance writer? I probably either know one or know someone who knows someone, and by providing the referral, I’m strengthening my network.  By the way, having a vast network of resources can be incredibly valuable to your employer, too, because it makes you a miracle worker, able to accomplish things others can’t.  Become known as the go-to person to find any resource.

If you’re a networking newbie, there are plenty of techniques and skills you can use to help you feel more comfortable and be more organized with your networking (if you’re interested, you can download my Power Networking Tips here), but the real power of your network comes from making a long-term investment in helping other people succeed.  Remember, the most powerful network is the one that owes you favours.

I’m a member of a number of organizations, some of which are, by definition, networking groups, existing for the sole purpose of helping their members make business contacts and advance their professional objectives.  But I’ve never belonged to any group whose members were as willing to help as IABC members are.

I’ve found that saying I’m a fellow IABC member is as good as a secret handshake.  Total strangers will stop what they’re doing, take my call, provide advice, share information, whatever.  I know I’ve done it for others many times too.  As a US-to-UK immigrant, I frequently hear from US members thinking of moving to London, asking for advice or contacts or information about how to get a work permit.  If they were just random queries, from people I don’t have any special affinity to, I probably wouldn’t take the time.  But because they’re a part of a network I believe in, I find the time, no matter how busy I am.   

And that’s what I’ve found when I have needed to tap into the network, no matter where in the world.  Again and again. 

The latest was just this week, and I was tapping into the network to provide value to a client.  The client is a major global corporation, with plenty of resources of it’s own.  But what it needed was local market knowledge in a country where it has none.  They’ve just acquired a company in Hungary, so the communications team needs to quickly learn the market, make contacts, find local resources (like PR agencies, translators, photographers), and understand cultural differences.  The client asked me if I had any contacts there.  So I did a quick search of the online member directory and found a member in Budapest.  I fired off a quick email to ask for help, and within hours, I’d heard back.  This member not only was willing to meet with my client when he visits in 10 days, but also offered to help open doors, and even recommended places to stay.  My client, who is a relatively new IABC member himself, is amazed.  It’s his first glimpse of the power of the IABC secret handshake. 

I still remember the very first time I experienced it.  I was working in a job I hated and I wanted to make a move.  I was young and still new in the market I’d moved to — where competition for every comms position was stiff, and most of the best jobs were never advertised.  It was clear that in this town, it was all about “who you know.”  While I didn’t yet fully understand networking, I’d recently joined IABC, so I went to a local chapter event, hoping that might help.  I remember sitting around a table with seven total strangers, and as we went around the table with introductions, I decided to ask for help.  When it was my turn, I said I wanted to find a new job.  Then and there, two people told me of positions they’d heard about, and offered to make calls to their contacts to get me in the door.  Within a week I had interviewed for both,  and by the end of the month I had a new job. 

I could go on and on with my own examples, but I’d love to hear from others with stories of how you’ve received value from the IABC network, whether personally, or for your employer or client.