The Biggest Mistake In My Career

We all make mistakes, but when I think back over my career, this one really stood out: For almost 20 years, I virtually ignored networking. It’s only now, midway through my career, that I’m finally learning how important it can be.

I’ve always heard that having a network is beneficial, but I only really considered it in the context of the verb ‘to network’ which, according to my view, was something done by people who are unemployed and looking for a job. I have been very fortunate that I’ve continually had stable jobs where I felt secure in my employment, so I never felt a huge need to go out and ‘network’.

For an introvert like me, making connections and maintaining them takes a lot of effort. I’m not naturally good at the small talk, and I don’t have the natural charisma that some people do. I’m not a compelling story teller, so holding court with an audience can be a challenge. Traditionally, if I’ve made a connection with someone, it has been based on something substantial that we have in common, and that connection has been made with the intent of continued investment.

But what I’ve been realizing lately is that my concept of having a network was almost all wrong: The value of the network is not the endpoints (each individual person) - it’s the web itself. I had been looking at the network from a very ego-centric, hub-and-spoke point of view, when the strongest webs are a mesh.

The purpose of the connection web is to help facilitate additional connections – not only between me and others I’ve interacted with, but also between two or more people that I’ve met, who can benefit mutually from an introduction. If I help someone one on one, that is great – but connecting multiple people is even better. Larger networks mean higher chances that I can facilitate connections between two or more people.

To help push past my narrow view, it helped me to realize that everyone else is in the same boat. Ultimately, we create our networks because it helps us further our careers, or enhance our personal life in some way. We do get benefit from it – so we can’t completely ignore the egotistical side of it. However, so does everyone else – they grow their networks to increase the chances that they get a boost in some way down the line. So if I toss out a connection request, they might as well accept it, because they don’t know how I may be able to assist them in the future, when they might need it.

File this learning under “Salespeople already know this – but other technically-minded people like me may be blissfully ignorant to the value of a well-formed network”.

If you haven’t already – start building your web of connections now. When you need it, you will be glad did.