LeadershipNetworking410.pdf

13 Apr,2022

Contents Networking for Leaders

Mapping Your Network

Six Requirements of Leadership Networking

Barriers to Building a Leadership Network Operational Differences Level Differences Demographic Differences Personal Preferences Other Barriers Assessing Your Network

Strategies for Developing Your Leadership Network Learn from Others Invite Others Invite Yourself Ask for Feedback Work with Others Be Direct Be an Information Hub Make Allies Setting Goals and Taking Action

Suggested Readings

Background

Key Point Summary

Lead Contributors

Ideas Into Action Guidebooks

Aimed at managers and executives who are concerned with their own and others’ development, each guidebook inthis series gives specific advice on how to complete a developmental task or solve a leadership problem.

LEAD CONTRIBUTORS Curt GraysonDavid Baldwin

CONTRIBUTORS Kate BeattyGene KlannCynthia D. McCauleyEric RothCresencio Torres

DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS Martin WilcoxEDITOR Peter Scisco

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Karen MayworthWRITER Rebecca Garau

DESIGN AND LAYOUT Joanne Ferguson

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTSLaura J. GibsonChris Wilson, 29 & Company

any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior writtenpermission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America America.

CCL No. 433

ISBN No. 978-1-882197-97-2

Center for Creative Leadership

Post Office Box 26300

Greensboro, North Carolina 27438–6300

336-288-7210

www.ccl.org/publications

pfeiffer.com/go/cclguidebooks

The Ideas Into Action Guidebook Series This series of guidebooks draws on the practical knowledge that the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®) hasgenerated, since its inception in 1970, through its research and educational activity conducted in partnership withhundreds of thousands of managers and executives. Much of this knowledge is shared—in a way that is distinct from thetypical university department, professional association, or consultancy. CCL is not simply a collection of individualexperts, although the individual credentials of its staff are impressive; rather it is a community, with its membersholding certain principles in common and working together to understand and generate practical responses to today’sleadership and organizational challenges. The purpose of the series is to provide managers with specific advice on how to complete a developmental task orsolve a leadership challenge. In doing that, the series carries out CCL’s mission to advance the understanding, practice,and development of leadership for the benefit of society worldwide. We think you will find the Ideas Into ActionGuidebooks an important addition to your leadership toolkit.

Executive Brief Networking is essential to effective leadership in today’s organizations. Leaders who are skilled networkers have access to people, information, and

resources to help solve problems and create opportunities. Leaders who neglect their networks are missing out on a critical component of their roleas leaders. This book will help leaders take a new view of networking and provide insight into how to enhance their networks and become effectiveat leadership networking.

Networking for Leaders

Welcome to the network! Were you aware that you’re already a member? A network is a set of connected relationshipswith people inside and outside your organization upon whom you depend to accomplish your work. Within yourexisting network, you share information, collaborate, and solve problems. Sometimes you pitch in or cover for eachother, make referrals, endorse and support. Other times you push back or offer criticism. Within your network, there aredifferences of opinion, even cliques and conflict. From your current position, you influence and respond to the network. Conventional wisdom often places networking in the context of looking for a new job, chatting at parties and events,or working in sales. The ability to network is useful in those situations, but it is in the day-to-day work of leadingwhere networking becomes an essential and indispensable skill. Leadership networking is not about collecting businesscards or schmoozing. Leadership networking is about building relationships and making alliances in service of others—customers, clients, constituents, peers, bosses, and employees—and in service of the organization’s work and goals.A robust leadership network helps provide access to people, information, and resources. Leaders can use thoseconnections to solve problems and create opportunities. Intentionally developing, maintaining, and using contacts and alliances are at the heart of leadership networking.Managers who develop their skill at these tasks build relationships throughout the organization and expand their pool ofresources to include people and organizations on the outside: customers, clients, vendors, media, industry experts, andso on. Over time, these leaders create broad-based and strong networks that provide greater access to the informationand resources they need to reach their goals. Through their networks, they

increase effectiveness by deepening and broadening the communication channels between individuals and groups remove political roadblocks by bridging distances that separate positions, work groups, teams, and business units open up new opportunities and uncover ideas by “crosspollinating” with other groups and individuals who mayconnect in ways not readily apparent strengthen their power base by delivering support and resources to groups and individuals in need, by acceptingresources as required, and by broadcasting the availability of talent and resources found in their group gain exposure across their organizations by highlighting individual efforts and the work of their groups inachieving organizational goals

Still, many managers in leadership roles are ambivalent about or even averse to the idea of networking. They haveseen colleagues aggressively network for personal gain. They may view networking as an uncomfortable or tediousprocess. Some managers consider themselves too busy to give attention to networking, and even if they see its value,they think the organization should value their individual contributions even more. But becoming a more effective leaderrequires not only developing their skills and capabilities as individuals, but also developing relationships with others.If managers who struggle with either the concept or the practice of networking can set aside their preconceived notions,they can develop skills that take networking to a different level.

Beyond Conventional Wisdom Aspects of conventional networking are useful, but for longterm or complex situations a leadership view ofnetworking is essential. Conve ntional ne tworking can be s e e n as …transaction basedone wayinvesting in self firstproviding contactsa source of informationexpanding address bookbuilding number of contactsshort termlimitedindividual

Le ade rs hip ne tworking s hould be …relationship basedtwo wayinvesting in others firstproviding resources to get work donea forum for sharing and problem solvingbuilding alliancesleading to greater access and influencelong termin depthorganizational

Reflections on Networking

What benefits have you experienced with networking? Howhas networking helped you professionally? Are there situationswhere networking helped you accomplish your work?

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Mapping Your Network

In traditional organizations, managers accomplish their work through others in a direct reporting structure.

Although this structure still exists in some organizations, in many others the traditional hierarchy has changed

significantly. In many cases, this is because new technologies make it easier to share information and connect withothers. Regardless of how an organization might draw its formal structure, the arrangement of the work itself looksmore like a web and less like a pyramid.

In this fluid, multidimensional environment, leaders are more dependent upon other people to get access, information,

and resources to accomplish tasks and goals. They get things done through a large and often diverse network of peopleover whom they have little (if any) direct control. Much of their work is accomplished by using relationship-rich skillslike influence, communication, and political savvy. Leadership networking provides a conduit and a context for usingthose kinds of skills to get results.

Six Requirements of Leadership Networking

Improving your leadership network takes time, and it begins with assessing your current network, its strengths, and itsweaknesses. It also takes your personal commitment to act in ways that strengthen the relationships in your network andcultivate the relationships you need in your network. Later in this guidebook, we offer specific strategies fordeveloping your leadership network. But first, let’s take a look at six critical requirements of leadership networking.

Leadership Networking Demands AuthenticityYou will be most effective in building your leadership network if you maintain a genuine objective of building

relationships, providing support, and accomplishing the work for the benefit of the organization. Your authenticity willgenerate trust in others; people are drawn to leaders who are sincere and genuine. Networking is not a ploy for gettingyour way. People will see through attempts at networking that are self-serving or manipulative. If you earn a reputationas someone who takes but doesn’t give, who uses information inappropriately, or who breaks confidences, yournetworks will shut down. Regaining the trust and respect needed to rebuild will not be easy—if possible at all.

What Does Your Network Look Like? Using the organizational diagram at the bottom of page 10 as a model, map your own current leadership network. This type of diagram is a visual

picture of the people you interact with to accomplish your work. Having a picture of your network in mind is the first step toward developing orimproving your leadership networking skills.

In the space provided on the next page, add ovals with the names of those with whom you have important work relationships (your boss, directreports, peers, boss’s boss, customers, vendors, and so on). Draw double lines to people with whom you interact frequently, draw single lines topeople with whom you interact less frequently, and draw dotted lines to people with whom you rarely interact.

Modify this activity so that it’s an accurate reflection of your network. For example, if you work in sales or purchasing, your relationships withclients or vendors may be your most important relationships—even more important that your relationship with your boss.

After you complete your diagram, answer the following questions: Is your network larger or smaller than you would have expected?

_______________________________________________________________________________________ How much do you depend upon your direct reports?

_______________________________________________________________________________________ How much do you depend upon people who are outside your scope of authority?

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_______________________________________________________________________________________ Given that you’ve identified all of these as important work relationships, what determines how much you interact with different people?

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Network Diagram

Leadership Networking Trades in Resources

Having resources such as information, services, access, and power that can be contributed to organizational projectsbuilds a leadership network through give-and-take. Reciprocity is important in creating, keeping, and using yourleadership network. Leaders who are skilled at this kind of bartering know their assets and share them appropriately.For example, a manager may assign an individual with excellent presentation skills to a team that seeks visibility withtop executives, routinely give a peer a preview of monthly sales reports, or offer personal time to advocate foranother’s cause. Consider how each of you contributes to the overall organization’s goals, and how working togethermight make both of you more effective toward that end.

Leadership Networking Calls for Thoughtful and Deliberate Use of Power

Within an organization, a good definition of power is the ability to get things done. Some power comes from yourposition, such as the ability to reward and punish. But that kind of power is impossible to use effectively in mostnetwork relationships. In the context of leadership networking, there are three sources of power. Regardless of thesource of your power, it’s important to use it wisely, in a way that maintains your authenticity and the trust others havein you. Reputation. Who you are, how you lead, and what you have accomplished determine your reputation in anorganization. People are naturally drawn to leaders who are competent and successful, and they’re naturally hesitant tonetwork with those who have a bad attitude, who don’t have a strong work ethic, and who are marginal performers. Ifyou are known as someone who gets results and who can be held accountable, you gain power from your positivereputation. Alliances. The quality of your network affects others. If you have connections to other key influencers and decisionmakers, your perceived power increases. Position. The nature of your work generates power. If you are involved in the organization’s greatest priorities orproblems, your visibility and role add to your power.

Leadership Networking Requires Skillful CommunicationMuch of the effectiveness of a leadership network depends on whether you can communicate in a way that builds

awareness of your needs and your assets. If you cannot make others aware of what you can bring to bear on a problemor project and what you need in order to accomplish goals of your own, your networking strategies will be largelyineffectual. Creating that awareness means disseminating information accurately, timely, and clearly. It requires that youhave the listening skills necessary to elicit and absorb information from others. And it demands that you know when tospeak and when to listen. Consider a manager with excellent speaking skills, who can clearly communicate a point ofview or share information. If that same manager can’t hear and understand the perspectives and needs of others, therelationships in his or her leadership network are weakened because the communication channel works in only onedirection.

Leadership Networking Calls for Savvy Negotiating SkillEffective negotiators know when to push hard and when to back off, when to share information and when to hold

back, when to swap resources, and when to trade short-term outcomes for a long-term goal. This skill is linked closelyto being aware of resources and needs—those that you have and those that others have. A manager who is known toalways play hardball or a manager who is viewed as a pushover has very little room to negotiate within a network.

Leadership Networking Means Managing ConflictThe definition of network implies that conflicts within networks usually cannot be resolved in a win-lose way. Very

seldom do you have enough power over peers, lateral subordinates, superiors, and external contacts to force them toact in ways that are not in their self-interest. You need skills for resolving conflict with win-win or win-learn solutions.When conflict occurs within your network, work to appreciate the opposing point of view. Look for points of mutualagreement. Express your position in a way that is helpful to resolving the conflict by drawing on your influence skills.

Barriers to Building a Leadership Network

The nature of networking—working with and through others over whom you have no direct control—means thatbuilding and using networks can be difficult, even problematic. Identifying the people and groups with whom youshould connect is often the easiest part. However, in the process of building and maintaining relationships, leaders arelikely to face a number of barriers. Any one barrier can pose a challenge to effective networking; often a number offactors conspire to prevent good networks from developing.

Operational Differences Valuable networking relationships may be thwarted because of the operations of the organization. Working in differentfunctions, departments, or divisions can make networking seem too unnatural or out of the way. Different bosses, goals,and objectives may set up competitive—even adversarial—relationships, rather than collaborative ones.

Level Differences The structure of the organization can make building and maintaining important network relationships harder. When leaders try to network with someone higher or lower on the organizational chart, issues of power, access, and agendas canget in the way. For example, it is often your boss’s boss who is critical in defining your agenda and providing theresources you need, yet he or she is not always accessible. The stronger the hierarchy of an organization and the morepeople believe in following the chain of command, the more difficult this level difference becomes.

Demographic Differences People more readily and easily make connections with people they view as similar to themselves. As a result,networking with others who differ from you by race, gender, age, country of origin, and socioeconomic status mayrequire greater effort. A leader who is in a demographic minority in the organization may have to overcome a sense ofisolation in order to network. Conversely, a leader who is in the demographic mainstream must not mistake familiarnetworks for effective networks.

Desirable Diversity It’s important for your network to bridge diverse groups of people. If everyone in your network already interacts with each other, the network

won’t be as useful as it otherwise could be. Building a network of people who do not regularly interact gives you the opportunity to tap into morediverse subgroups.

Personal Preferences Personality and patterns of behavior can make the process of effective networking more or less challenging. Leaderswho are outgoing or collaborative usually network more readily than leaders who tend to be reserved or independent.Networking will be more of a stretch for someone who is more introverted than for someone who is extroverted andthrives on interaction with colleagues. This is not to say you must try to change your personality or how you arehardwired if you fall into the more introverted camp in order to be an effective leadership networker. It simply meansyou will have to go against the grain somewhat to find, maintain, and effectively utilize your network.

Other Barriers Effective networking can also be blocked by other factors. Unclear big picture. One possible barrier to effective net working is a lack of understanding of your own role inhelping your organization succeed, as well as a lack of understanding of others’ roles in achieving that same end.Without an understanding of the big picture that your organization is working toward, it is hard to connect to each other. Time. Already pressed for time, leaders may see the investment in networking as too consuming. Location. Working with colleagues in other locations—often in different countries or time zones—can become abarrier to building effective two-way relationships. Even seemingly innocuous circumstances, such as working on adifferent floor or in a different building, can contribute to making interactions, and therefore relationships, moredifficult.

Thinking Globally Building a network across national boundaries can be difficult, but very worthwhile. Perhaps you can’t just walk down the hall to talk to your

intended network partner, but networking is still possible through technology and travel. You’re likely to face significant differences—in culture,language, religion, values, education, political systems, socioeconomic factors, and family and socialization practices. The greater those differences,the harder it may be to build the trust on which a good network is based. Leaders who seek to understand different cultures and the most effectiveways to network will succeed. And given that diversity in a network is a good thing, having the opportunity to build a global network is a greatadvantage. It gives your network the potential to be much richer and more diverse.

Previous relationship history. A positive experience or relationship is a boost to building effective networks. On the

other hand, a negative experience or perception can be incredibly difficult to overcome. Change. Organizational restructuring, new management, and changing roles can throw a wrench into well-functioningnetworks and relationships. Organizational changes may change the organization’s goals—and individuals’ roles inmeeting those goals.

Assessing Your Network

This section serves as a workbook to help you understand your leadership network, identify your most importantrelationships, and diagnose weaknesses and gaps. It includes four brief activities, along with questions for reflection,to help you clarify your situation prior to setting networking goals. 1. Think about your current priorities or leadership challenges. Perhaps you are a leader of a team responsible for

a new product launch that is behind schedule. Perhaps you’re working to implement a new training program. Ormaybe you’re struggling to manage a difficult employee. Whatever your key challenge is, take a moment and writeit down:

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_______________________________________________________________________________________2. Next, create a network diagram directly related to your leadership challenge. Who could help you meet thischallenge? Indicate how often you interact with double lines (frequently), single lines (less frequently), and dottedlines (rarely). If you don’t know of a spe cific person, write a position, department, or function. (One of yournetworking tasks would then be to find out names you need to add to your network.)

Network Diagram

3. Look at the people you included on your diagram. How important is each person in terms of your ability to faceor resolve your leadership challenge? Label each name in the diagram with a 1 (very important), 2 (moderatelyimportant), or 3 (not very important).4. Write the name of each person you ranked as very important at the top of a column. Then rate the effectivenessof your relationship with each person by responding to the statements at the left. Use the following scale:

If you rated your very important relationships at 4 or 5, this indicates solid networking relationships. You candepend on these people and they can depend on you—an ideal situation. If you rated your key relationships as lesseffective (meaning that you gave them ratings of mostly 1 and 2), then you are in a situation of depending onpeople without being able to count on their support. If your responses for a person are scattered across 1 through5, your relationship with that person is inconsistent, but you have a foundation on which you can develop aneffective relationship.5. After completing the four activities above, reflect on the following questions.

Are your relationships helping or hurting you when it comes to meeting your leadership challenge? What experiences or behaviors have contributed to your stronger relationships? What experiences or behaviors have contributed to your weaker relationships? What makes you a valuable component of other people’s networks? What do you share or contribute most often? What do you seek or require most often? How can you utilize your strong network relationships in service of your leadership challenge? What are some ways you could begin to strengthen the weaker relationships in service of your leadershipchallenge? What do your less effective relationships have in common? What patterns do you see in how you interact in theserelationships? Looking at your networking difficulties, what have you learned?

Identifying and Analyzing Barriers Review your analysis of how effective your network relationships are. For those relationships that you rated as less effective, what are the possible

causes? Are operational differences, level differences, demographic differences, personal preferences, or some other kind of barriers standing inthe way?

Use this worksheet to analyze and record what is keeping specific relationships from being as effective as they could be. Use the following code: OD—operational differences, LD—level differences, DD—demographic differences, PP—personal preferences, O—other Pe rs on Barrie r Your Analys is of the Barrie rWill Smithson OD His office is in another building, and his department has different pressures.Martha Pritchett LD She is a lateral superior. I need her buy-in more than she needs my services.

Strategies for Developing Your Leadership Network

A strong and vibrant leadership network requires time and effort. But the work and understanding involved don’t haveto overwhelm you. Once you understand how your present network is structured, who is involved, and where you canpush your network to the next level, you can take action using these eight strategies.

Learn from Others Individuals who learn by accessing others seek advice, examples, support, or instruction from people who have met achallenge similar to the one they face, or they learn how to do something by watching someone else do it. Whonetworks well in your organization or in your community? What exactly do they do, and what do they say? Try similartactics or approaches. Ask them to talk to you about their view of networking and how they build and use relationships.

Keep a networking notebook for a week. Observe people around you in meetings, working together, and in casual interactions. Whoseems connected? Who seems isolated? What specifically are they doing? What clues does this activity give you as to how you should act and howyou should treat others?

Invite Others Bring others into your world. Invite them to lunch. Find time for a fifteen- or thirty-minute conversation to find out whatis happening in their world and to tell them what you and your group are doing. Invite others to your meetings and askthem to contribute their expertise and their perspective, or to explore possible connections between their work andyours.

Arrange one invitation each week. One week you may ask a teammate to talk for fifteen minutes after a meeting and ask for an opinionon another project. The next week, you could invite a peer to lunch. Keep up the once-a-week practice, and soon it will be routine.

Invite Yourself Ask to sit in on another group’s meeting or planning session. Join a committee or group outside your own area.

Set a goal to join a new committee or task force in the next month. If you don’t know what options you have, spend a week gatheringideas. Talk to your boss, ask a peer, or check in with human resources.

Ask for Feedback Seek honest answers from peers, direct reports, and superiors to gain a clear picture of how you and your groupfunction and what impact you have on others. Feedback engages others in a constructive way by adding depth toexisting relationships.

Seek feedback on a regular basis, after you have set goals for developing your leadership network. Ask for specific comments abouthow others see you in regard to your relationships with others, how you share information, how you use your influence, and other networking skills.

Work with Others Volunteer for assignments or projects that give you an opportunity to work across functions. One of the best ways tobuild connections with others is to work together on something. A fringe benefit is the visibility you will gain withpeople outside your department.

Volunteer for the next assignment that involves people outside your work group. Whatever it is—a presentation to senior management,giving a plant tour, working on a crossfunctional team—raise your hand and take that step forward.

Be Direct Let people know what you are doing, why it matters, and how it relates to their work or goals. By communicatingclearly, you help others see how they can connect to you and your work to achieve their own goals.

Talk to your direct reports about leadership networking. Tell them you are making efforts to extend your network and that you want theirinput. Ask them about their projects and challenges. Make a list of people, departments, or functions that could be helpful in accomplishing theirgoals—seek and incorporate information from your direct reports in that list. With their help and input, make a plan that you and your direct reportscan follow to create or improve your networks.

Be an Information Hub Develop and offer yourself as a source of information about people, processes, and facts. Develop your ability toconnect with strategic information about your organization.

Make a list of your information assets. What do you know? What information does your group hold? How might your information beuseful to others? Make a plan to disseminate information appropriately and intentionally.

Make Allies You may be able to develop your networking skills by working with a mentor, colleague, or coach. For a source ofcoaching or mentoring, look to others you see as successful leadership networkers.

Interview effective networkers in your organization. Capture their specific behaviors. Ask them to observe your behaviors related tonetworking and to offer you feedback. You could also recruit a networking ally. The two of you could practice networking and give each otherfeedback, support, and encouragement.

Setting Goals and Taking Action

What can and what will you do to build and improve important work relationships? Using the eight ideas described inthe previous section, think about what you can do differently to be more effective at leadership networking. Many of the roles and skills expected and required of leaders today are connected to networking. If you aren’tcurrently using your network to the fullest extent, you’re missing out on benefits that can support your efforts to manageprojects and lead people toward common goals. To build, maintain, and use your networks, you need to invest yourselfin the process. You can’t rely on other people to bring you into their networks. Leadership networks require time and effort to develop. Using them to your advantage often requires that you breakout of your routine and leave behind your usual way of doing things. If you are a talented individual contributor, forexample, you may need to learn how to more fully trust the talent and contributions of peers, direct reports, andsuperiors so that you can work collaboratively to reach goals you can’t reach by yourself or in your own work group.By seeing networking as an integral part of your role as a leader and by taking action to develop and nurture relatedskills, you begin to create benefits for yourself, your group, and your organization.

Making Your Plan Identify network relationships that you know you should develop and improve to accomplish your work. Then, as specifically as you can, write out

actions you will take to improve them. Pe rs on Spe cific Action Ne tworking Be ne fitBill Jones (marketing) I will set up a meeting.

Increased access to marketing data will help my team sellmore products.

Christa Liu (head of sales for westerndivision)

I will schedule a lunch to discuss areas ofcollaboration.

We will develop a better understanding of each other’s team’sneeds.