Benefits of Leadership Networking
Leadership Networking is about building relationships with peers, clients, customers, constituent and collague to share information, collaborate and solve problems in order to reach organization’s goals.
1.Identify new trends and spot opportunities
Networking with different people help you identify new approaches, policies, practices that raise your awareness and keeps you updated with new trends going around in your and outside your industry. This enables you to seek opportunities for you and help you set strategic approach to make people in your company to work towards the goal. Leadership networking benefits not only you but also people who are working for you in the organization who are inspired by your networking skills.
“Networking is a lot like nutrition and fitness: we know what to do, the hard part is making it a top priority.”- Herminia Ibarra
2.Generate innovative ideas
Meeting and Connecting with different people opens your mind to think and see through different perspective. Sharing ideas, networking , discussing issues, approaches, problems and solution motivates you and helps you generate new innovative ideas.In Leadership networking collaborating with new and different people has proven to be the most beneficial for the leader as well as the organisation.
“It’s great to spend time at a networking event with someone you know and like. But that’s not what you’re there for. Your goal is to expand your network by meeting new people.” Beth Ramsay
3. Getting things done
Networking creates valuable connects and a long term productive relationship to enhance work along with creativity, motivation, knowledge and skill for getting things done.Alot of people think networking could be a waste of time but its time well spent and also leveraging your network it has proven to increase your productivity and effectivetness. Whether you are seeking a lead or leading networking matters ,Leadership networking is an essential part for a leader to adapt to transiton ,grow and for core competency. Networking is a skill to be learned but once learned you could never go wrong.
“If you’re not networking, you’re not working.” Denis Waitley
4. Mix experience and freshness
For leaders experiences count the most. If you are surrounded with people thinking likewise you tend to not grow your creativity or transition, there is limit to new ideas also. For an effective Leadership networking you need to surround yourself with new and experienced people for great networking and new ideas,discussion,areas,groups. Networking is all about meeting new and different people.
“The successful networkers I know, the ones receiving tons of referrals and feeling truly happy about themselves, continually put the other person’s needs ahead of their own.” – BobBurg
5.Build Links with diverse stakeholders
Network to meet people in the similar or different roles in business, or different areas to build internal and external networks. Leadership networking enables you to recruit new stakeholder, champions, investors, promoters and partners. Network are a part of leader’s job building link to be aware and knowledge of political landscape and how leverage influencers for the benefit of their own organization and their team.
“The richest people in the world look for and build networks, everyone else looks for work. Marinate on that for a minute.” Robert T. Kiyosaki
6.Avoid ‘groupthink’
“The new form of networking is not about climbing a ladder to success; it’s about collaboration, co creation, partnerships, and long-term values-based relationships.”-Porter Gale
It is great to have an organization where people share same values, purpose, practices and procedures. They think as a group but often this groupthink can lead to unhealthy and unreasonable decision making. That’s where network matters, we should keep connecting with new people to welcome new ideas, invite critical challenge and different views. To avoid groupthink leaders should voice, hear opinions and ideas from wider networks.
7.Map out your Network
“My Golden Rule of Networking is simple: Don’t keep score.”-Harvey Mackay
Networking with different members of the same as well as different industry is important but it is also important to map out your network for fast and effective benefit of your own industry. If we do not list down our network it is quite possible to lead to an ineffective networking process. Leadership networking is also about how you grow your company and for that mapping out your network is most important.
8. Share resources
Leadership network happens through reciprocity – give & take system more of a win-win situation, sharing resources such as data, information, services and access will make your networking stronger. Sharing resources also plays a key role while collaborating.
“If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people.”-Chinese Proverb
9.Communicate skilfully
Leadership network is a skill that needs to be learnt for effective networking. Networking works only when you know how to communicate in a way that created awareness of your needs and assets. If you can’t communicate to the other person what you need or what you offer in order to achieve your goals, your networking will be ineffective.
“Networking with integrity creates a greater willingness of all parties to be part of a human conduit to serve as energy and resource to one another. Sometimes you will give more than you receive and sometimes you will get back more than you give. It’s not about keeping score.”-Chris London
10.Seek out a good role model
To learn the skills of networking we should seek out for a role model who could guide us on how to make networking effective. Once we start networking we would know how to proceed further but also to learn and know the process one need to have a role model , a live example to follow.
“Network selectively ‘ You never know when someone might say yes’ is marketing for dummies. Take the time to build a profile of your ideal customers, and target your networking activities to reach them. Speak to those who are already predisposed to want what you offer. Almost any profile is better than anyone with a pulse”- Steve Pavlina
.Leadership network matters in both professionally and in transitioning.
