🤝 Building a strong network

TalentGeist Newsletter

Immediately-actionable career insights for ambitious individuals.

Read time: 3.5 minutes

Building a strong network is one of the HIGHEST ROI things you can do for your career.

Most people think of ‘network’ in a very one-dimensional way: how many people do I know? Or other variations — how many followers do I have? How many connections do I have on LinkedIn?

You might be connected to a lot of people, but that doesn’t mean you’ve got a supportive community around your career.

The better way to think of a strong network — people helping people. In other words, a network should be active and effective. By default, it’s a highly reciprocal process.

For example — when you ask someone for help (referrals, introductions, advice, etc.), 99% of the time the other person will think “Who are you? What have you done for me?”

Your answer to this — be a value-add person BEFORE making the ask.

Here’s a few guiding principles to build your own strong network:

1) Accept the fact that networking is transactional (you can’t keep ‘receiving’, at least not fully, without ‘giving back’). It can be a transaction of information, energy, skills, etc. Once you realize this, you’ll be guided by a value-add first approach.

2) Have a 51/49 mindset — always aim to provide 51% of the value.

3) Ensure what you add/give is actually deemed valuable to the person (not just what you think is valuable).

A real story to illustrate the importance of understanding what’s important for the OTHER person (redacted): a couple of families were all vying for the same nanny (one of the best in town). One family in particular wasn’t able to offer the nanny as much in compensation vs. other families, but realized that the nanny’s son was applying to colleges in the US, and they happen to be highly-familiar with the admissions process — “We’re not able to pay as much, but we’re more than happy to spend some time with your son and help guide him through the admissions process.”

Guess who the nanny ended up choosing at the end of the day?

Hope the above was helpful. On a similar note — which of your friends/colleagues might find this newsletter / career insights valuable? Will sharing this newsletter with them be a way for you to add value for them? 😊

Until next time,

Vincent (LinkedIn)