Networking 101: Exercise 3

Exercise 3
Look at the diagram below. As blank as it is, it serves an edification of the evergreen statement “what do you want to do/be”. It’s simple to say write down your goals and go to it! Unfortunately, much like most ephemeral ideas, you can understand the concept but without seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, or some level of gratification, you can lose track of what you are doing or why.

First fill out the Checkpoint. The checkpoint should represent the goal you wish to reach at the end of a year. In this case, however, your checkpoint is not necessarily “Manager, Eastern Sales” – that would be a long term goal. Think in terms of networking – who should what impression of you by when. Look at your results from each of the previous exercises. You should create a map for each individual you’ve identified. A checkpoint would be the impression you wish for them to have of you. The Start should indicate where you are today with regard to a specific goal.

Next, fill out the Goal boxes. Each Goal should be aligned with your Checkpoint. You want each Goal to represent a step in creating your impression, which, in turn, will help with a larger career strategy. For now, however, focus on this finite level – take each individual impression you listed in Exercise 2.

The arrows represent the steps you are taking to get to the next Goal. Try to be as specific as possible – after all, you can only have a sense of accomplishment if your steps are achievable. Look at the anecdotes you listed in Exercise 2 and the places of interaction listed in Exercise 1. Use this as a starting point for your steps – “I will tell X story Y to create Z impression.”

Each flow represents one separate impression you want to make to a particular individual. Now each impression is well and good, but you want them to achieve a certain end. Given our commodity, our marketing, and customers, we want reach a goal. These maps taken together should represent tangible steps to reach your career goals – use networking effectively.

Networking 101: Second Exercise

Exercise 2

Using the same list of people as Excercise 1 (refer: last blog!!!), come up with 5 qualities/skills you want the person in the list to know about you. More often than not, we assume that people will find something memorable about us, but we don’t manage what exactly that something is. Be SPECIFIC!!!

Next to each person, right down three characteristics or souvenirs do you want each individual to have about you. It is important to think of this as an individual interaction with each person on the list. What you write for person A may not be the same souvenir you want to person B to walk away with. For example, if person A is a marketing executive, I may want them to know that I am creative. If person B is an HR expert, I would want to leave an impression that I have experience in interviewing. Try to think of a specific characteristic you want to be evoked when they think of you or hear your name mentioned. Try to answer the question of “I am the go to person for _________” or “I am known as a person who can ________”

Next to the characteristic, write down a “10-words-or-less” synopsis of an example you could give that would create the impression. What you want to focus on is having a story to tell instead of a bullet point – stories give you more to evoke a memory.

Now, think back to interactions you’ve had. Haven’t there been moments when you have walked away saying “I wish I had said…” or “I wish they knew I could…..” Frequently, its human nature to hesitate bringing up a point about ourselves because we don’t know how it will be received. You tell your friends a story and, if we are honest with ourselves, we know that half the time they are only listening because they are our friends. They want to know what dress we bought, what happened at the salon, what we did today because they, by definition of friend, care. And we can’t underestimate the fact sometimes we listen because, well, we want our turn too! For networking, you are creating the professional relationship – you have the luxury of creating the friend you want to be known as. In order to create that impression, we need to tell the anecdotes, show the image that we want others to have of us. By planning our anecdotes and adjusting them accordingly, we are prepared for opportunities to create the impression. To be present in the moment, to turn a moment of “Hey-how-are-you-I’m-fine” into something memorable. This exercise is built to give you the marketing materials for you to posture your product (which, again, is you) and turn an “I wish I had….” to “I was ready to”.

We now have the commodity, the marketing, and the customers. Seems like its logical, right? But what do you do with this plethora of knowledge? Therein lies the rub. Have you ever watched a cooking show, say 30-minute meals with Rachel Ray, and think, wow, that looks easy! Who knew I could make Chicken Kiev in 30 minutes? You look around your kitchen and suddenly all you see is opportunity of fantastic Michelin-star rated meals and you are armed with your Rachel Ray steps. Hurrah! No Hamburger Helper tonight! Now answer this: have you ever actually done it? Doing it in your head doesn’t count. This is the same concept. We all know the basic tenets to networking – meet people and stay in touch. We all know the fundamentals of CRM – know the customer, know their needs, and meet them. The difference between actual real-life-yup-I’m-networking-and-its-effective and yup-I-have-200-people-I-kinda-know-but-am-connected-to-on-linkedin is what we do with this knowledge. How do we use it for good rather than…well…nothing *insert Starwars theme music here*

Networking 101: Linked, Tagged, SMS-ed, Texted….So How’s It Work?

Introduction

When one says networking, its not simply that you link, tag, friend-accept, text, ping, IM – it is how you effectively leverage each one of those wired moments. One only has to look at the latest Dentyne advertisements to see how wired we are as a society today. Its all well and good when you are in high-school looking for the most popular award to say I have 250 connections on Linkedin.com, but once you reach the level of middle-management, the biggest decision you have is no longer the table you sit at in the cafeteria on taco day, but who is on your right and left at the boardroom table. More importantly, it is do those people think of me when they leave the boardroom? Alas, popularity still matters, but now it’s manageable – it is who you are connected with be it Gabby Reeces’s Honeyline or LinkedIn.

We have all heard that you should never go grocery shopping when you’re hungry. Makes sense, right? If you’re already hungry, you’re going to crave the bright yellow Twinkies and justify that it is probably more filling than some celery. God bless instant gratification! The basic principle is that the shopper (or future-eater, if you will) will be more pragmatic and objective in shopping, and less influenced by impulse and desperation when the growling of their stomach isn’t distracting him or her – when there isn’t a sense of desperation. So here’s a question – why do we suddenly remember those associates and colleagues that we pass in the hallway with an off-handed “hey” while we stroll in our Dilbert-esque worlds only when we need them?

To understand the importance of networking, or connecting, think back to the golden rule. Answer the following question for yourself: If someone you haven’t had a “real” conversation with in 4 months suddenly called and said I need your help immediately for something I’m working on, would you drop what you’re doing and help? As has been said in the past “An emergency for you does not necessitate an emergency for me”.

It is imperative to create the foundation of working relationships so when and if a time arises which does, in fact, necessitate a need, it is not perceived as the equivalent of a long lost cousin calling asking for money.

First Exercise:

Write a list of 5 people whom you work with who have a position or role that interests you. Interest, in this sense, implies they are in touch or connected to either a position or skill set with which you wish to be more exposed.

Write down what it is about the individual that interests you. This could be something such as “communication skills”, “technical knowledge”, or as simple as “well known in the company”. Try to be as specific as possible.

After writing the list, write down situations in which you interact with each individual. It’s important to think of situations beyond participating a standing meeting. Think of situations such as coffee rooms, shared commutes, and et al. if possible.

On a scale of 1-5, rate how memorable you feel these interactions would be to the other person, 1 being something you forgotten on the way back to their office and 5 being something that may enter their mind later in the day as an anecdote.

If you have a series of 1-3 ratings, think about it. What does that say to you?

The Austrian philosopher, Martin Buber, once said that if do not allow ourselves to be one hundred percent present at every instant of our existence, we will never fully understand a) ourselves and b) others. Yet humanity, as a whole, tends to lead a “Uh-huh, okay” existence, with head-nodding apathy in daily interactions. We fear, as we should, vulnerability, the idea of de-masking ourselves. Looking at this philosophy from a career lens, there is a different level of importance. Now, I do not mean to imply that you should spend every moment with those on your list and treat it like a Dr. Phil or Oprah episode, but each interaction with these people who represent something of importance to you should be managed – you should recognize each interaction as an opportunity to create impression.

Now that’s easy to say – anybody that has dropped water, had the squeaky chair during a meeting, stated the obvious during a brainstorming session knows that you have definitely left an impression. What I am venturing to say is that you can control the impression you leave. We often notice these interactions after the fact. What is interesting, however, is that your level, you know how to manage customers – be it internal, team members, other departments – but we don’t look at ourselves as a commodity or a product that needs to leverage each interaction with our proverbial customers, i.e. our network. Customer relationship management can be serving as a major differentiator for companies, so why don’t we use the same principles with ourselves?

In the first exercise we recognized customers who we deem as priority for the “future” they can provide. It’s easy to say leverage a relationship. From a theoretical perspective, most of us can intuitively say that yes, I can recognize people I think would be beneficial to know. Here’s a question most people gloss over: what do I want them to recognize in me?

Most people have heard the idea of having a 30 second elevator pitch. Some of us have even created them in our heads. Now, when you’ve actually been in the elevator, have you ever used your pitch? As is true with customer relationship management, you know the commodity, and you know the customer – what you do with the information that matters. Lists can be generated, but more often than not, we get stuck in a moment of “okay, so now what?” Think about an anecdote, a story that can speak to the characteristic you want to be known for. Write it down. Most people can’t be Drew Cary with the practiced ability of improvisation, so why put yourself in that situation? By writing it down now, you are arming yourself with the tools necessary if and when the opportunity presents itself.

Stayed tuned for Exercise 2!!!