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Why it pays to share details A lot of people have achieved a favourable position by having attractive and important contacts in their little black books. The most logical scenario is to keep those cards close to your chest – but this is the wrong approach. Some time ago, I had a meeting with an employee in a large blue-chip organisation. He was to arrange an important event for their biggest client and had to ask for help from colleagues who had some of the most important contacts – but he found that they were reluctant to cooperate with him. The event ended up being attended by fewer and far less important participants than had been expected – which meant a poor result for the company. Is this a unique story? Unfortunately not. We all know that it is a frequent occurrence in large and small businesses alike. Some employees regard important business relations as private property that can be activated to create value for their own advantage. Effective networking, however, involves sharing contacts for the benefit of everyone.
Do not keep the golden eggs to yourself It is quite understandable that people want to keep their golden eggs to them98 | Issue 111 | April 2018
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By Simone Andersen
selves, but this is not effective networking. First, consider why your contact would drop you if you are worth having in their network? Asking to introduce them to others, in moderation, will make no difference. If you have built a stable network, the likelihood of losing your contact is almost non-existent. Second, how will your contact react to you appreciating them so much that you recommend them to others? Even those in demanding roles will usually be flattered. Think about the same thing from your colleague’s point of view: what kind of relationship will they establish with you if you share one of your great contacts with them? This is something most people remember. Sharing good contacts is not risky. On the contrary, it is likely to be a win-win situation. Finally, there are big gains for both individual employees and the entire business if you pool your contacts. You can achieve almost anything if you join forces – not least because many companies lack the courage to do it. Pooling good contacts means that the whole will be bigger than the sum of its parts. And it is entirely free of charge.
Simone Andersen is a journalist and has a master’s degree in media science. She worked for many years at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) as an editor and talk show host. She is an expert in business networking and building relationships, has just written the bestselling book The Networking Book, published by LID publishing, and gives talks on this subject. This column is an extract from The Networking Book.
sla@strategisk.dk +45 26161818 www.strategisk.dk www.thenetworkercompany.com