Who you know can be just as important as what you know!
Our ability to step into more senior roles is increased when our level of confidence meets our ability to influence.
Our awareness of others and ourselves is wrapped around our ability to network and build relationships.
Your ability to influence others, help others, and get help yourself is reflected by who you know inside and outside of your organisation.
Why is that?
- For a start it may help you get promoted
- It may help you in your role
- It may help you understand the organisation and how it works more strategically
We are natural connectors, however this is often stymied by hierarchies, politics and silos. The more we can connect with others the greater the likelihood of building relationships and bridging some of those silos. This means connecting with people at different levels of seniority to where you are. Just because someone is more junior than you doesn’t mean they don’t have something to offer and just because someone is more senior to you doesn’t mean you don’t have something to offer to them.
There are interactions within a corporation that can be invisible to others. You never know where a connection will take you so maintain your network and continue to grow it.
A client of mine was reluctant to connect with people in more senior roles as she didn’t want to ‘waste their time’. This was someone who was being groomed for a senior role and needed to find senior mentors. When she eventually started making connections with senior leaders in different areas of her organisation she was pleasantly surprised on how helpful they all were. More importantly she also realised the value she brought to the table to assist them in different areas.
The larger the organisation, the more important it is to have a breadth of connections throughout it.
- How many people in your company do you know well enough to be able to call up and talk to?
- Are there areas within your organisation that you are totally clueless about?
- How savvy are you on how your organisation fits together – who’s at the top, and what does the structure look like?