Networking in Business

Networking builds partnerships for mutual advantage

• To gain intelligence and build alliances.
• Create support groups - leaders cannot lead alone.
• Foster knowledge leadership.
• Offer support in return - fair exchange.
• Relationship building takes time - it's not strategic to network only when you want something.
• Be proactive in finding out how you can help others.
• It cannot just be about meeting your own needs.
• Networking is a strategic investment of executive time - you have to plan who, when, what you will talk about and how often.
• Unplanned networking will not happen.
• Leaders often have no one to confide in within their organization - external peers can play an vital sounding board role and reality check.
• See key contacts regularly, strive to network with those you have the most to learn from, but be sure you can make the contact rewarding for them as well.
• Being a good listener, empathetic and supportive, asking open ended, exploratory questions can be even more useful than offering your own opinions or knowledge.
• Networking means asking contacts who they know - approach the referral by saying ''My friend said you would be a good person to talk to about X'' - a little flattery helps.