Build Your Dream Network: Forging Powerful Relationships in a Hyper-Connected World - Softcover

Hoey, J. Kelly

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143111493 ISBN 13: 9780143111498

Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group, 2018

Inhaltsangabe

Cut through the networking noise and start building the powerful, real relationships needed to succeed in our digital world

If you think of networking as schmoozing at boring cocktail parties or scrolling through LinkedIn for new contacts to add, think again. In the social media age, you need a modern roadmap for creating and cultivating meaningful connections to stand out from the crowd and achieve any of your goals, no matter how big or small.
 
In Build Your Dream Network, acclaimed business columnist and networking expert J. Kelly Hoey offers a fresh new approach to mastering this timeworn skill in a world where everyone is posting, liking, and friending fast and furiously, but many are failing to leverage their connections successfully. Hoey presents innovative strategies for forming strong relationships—the genuine, mutually beneficial, long-lasting kind—using all of the social tools at your disposal. She also reveals creative and surprisingly simple ways to harness the power of your network to accomplish any ambition, from landing your dream job or a coveted account or client to successfully crowdfunding a new business venture. Build Your Dream Network will help you:

- Determine the most effective ways to connect with others so you don’t clutter your calendar with dead-end coffee dates and informational interviews
- Synchronize IRL networking efforts with your digital outreach
- Turn “closed door” conversations into strong personal relationships and business opportunities
- Eliminate FOMO by keeping your networking efforts focused
 
Packed with infographics, flowcharts, and encouraging advice, Build Your Dream Network shows how small adjustments in your daily routine, generosity, and goal-focused efforts are all it takes to set you apart and ignite the powerful connections that will lead to major opportunities for success.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

J. KELLY HOEY is a writer, investor, connector and networking expert, lauded everywhere from Forbes (“1 of 5 Women Changing the World of VC/Entrepreneurship”) to Fast Company (“25 Smartest Women On Twitter”). A columnist for Inc.com, she’s appeared on CNBC’s Power Pitch, and her clients include The New Yorker, Coca-Cola, PBS, L’Oréal, Capital One, and Dove. Connect with her at jkellyhoey.co or find her on Twitter (@jkhoey).

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1

Build Your Network

Networking needs a rebranding.

When I asked my friend Jonathan Beninson what he thinks when he hears the word "networking," his rapid-fire response was "Those moments when you exchange business cards with someone and figure out how you can benefit from them."

Ouch! A painful but definitely not atypical reaction to hearing the word "networking"-and an honest account of what we generally think networking is.

Jonathan is the chief strategy officer at House of Genius, a growing global community of entrepreneurs and innovative thinkers, so he knows a thing or two about forging strong relationships. Like Jonathan, I really do wish there was another word for the activities we undertake to connect and strengthen our relationships with other people, but this is the one we seem to be stuck with.

Merriam-Webster defines "networking" as "the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions; specifically: the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business." Not a motivating definition in alignment with the new economic dynamic and hyperconnected world we live in (and the definition sounds a lot like the activity Jonathan abhors).

I look to the definition of "net" for inspiration instead-"an openwork fabric made of threads or cords that are woven or knotted together at regular intervals"-because for me networking is an ongoing process of establishing and strengthening relationships. It is not confined to a single activity such as e-mail introductions or cocktail receptions in the lobby of a corporation's headquarters. And it is so much more than simply handing over a business card. It is continually connecting to build stronger connections (or to expand the strength of an existing network). It is weaving online and offline interactions into an integrated networking whole. As I see it, regular intervals of networking now include the person you choose to sit next to in a coworking space or the Twitter follower's daily insight you eagerly seek out, or perhaps it is the good old birthday greeting, be it a text, Facebook post, or emoji.

Whatever we call the activity, here's why I'm so passionate about it: networking has made my every career jump possible, and it can do the same for you.

My career in New York-from work assignments to opportunities to join committees or not-for-profit boards to job offers-can be traced back to my network. There's the network I brought with me from Toronto in 1998, when I arrived in New York City. My contact list was six people deep back then. It was a completely different story in 2009 when I "jumped" from the safety of a paycheck to the possibility of making a living on the basis of my community-building expertise. In 2010 I jumped again, from the comfort of a single innovative client (85 Broads) to a new, expanded client base of established blue-chip companies along with new-economy innovators, investors, and technology entrepreneurs. Pocketing that experience (and a new diverse group of business connections), in 2011 I jumped into angel investing and later that year my network bubbled up the visionary idea of cofounding a start-up accelerator.

I say this because I've lived it: mentors, advisors, role models, and diverse networks provide the support for possibilities and encourage us to jump beyond our biggest hesitations.

Connections Fuel a Career

I didn't set out to be a "networker" or "connector"-titles others anointed me with, people who have observed the unfolding of my career and the ways I have guided others to achieve their goals. I have come to understand the value of my approach to networking, with the benefit of experience and a whole lot of hindsight. Each career move and opportunity has come about as the result of a connection-that is, as the result of a real, human, and personal relationship, versus random acts of strangers or help-wanted ads or algorithms.

Here's my career-momentum formula

The people in my network opened doors at critical junctures in my career because I'd already established relationships with them, so they knew what I was capable of achieving. Having a network altered not only my career path but also my perspective on what I could be and, more important, the power I had to do the same for someone else.

Expertise and a goal are just your starting point. Networks are crucial because gaining access changes your outcome.

Goals Need a Network Plus Action

Becoming a law-firm partner had lost its allure for me by 2001. With no interest in grabbing that shiny brass ring, I sat down to focus on plan B. I assessed my work environment and interactions with colleagues. I thought about the seventy-plus-hour workweeks I regularly put in. From my back-of-the-envelope career assessment, I quickly realized that I wanted to stay in the legal profession and needed to find a role helping other attorneys succeed (mentoring junior associates had provided me with great career satisfaction).

Prior to 2002, I had a business network of lawyers and investment bankers. Get the pulse of Wall Street? No problem; my network could easily provide those insights. It was when I longed to take my career beyond purchase and sale agreements that I realized the vast limitations of my network. So in the spring of 2002, my career plan B became the following:

Build a brand-new network of connections with people on the management side of the legal profession whose functions primarily focused on attorney training and career development, and

Network my butt off with these new connections and their industry peers from other cities so they would know me, understand my capabilities, and keep me top-of-mind when positions opened up.

This was the plan I focused on until 2004, when I landed the dream position at White & Case LLP. I won't lie: there were a couple of near misses along the way and, yes, a few diversions caused by meetings with recruiters as a result of job postings I had read (a "don't leave any rock unturned" mentality crept into my anxious job-seeking brain at times). But in the end, someone who knew me and understood my abilities because we regularly stayed in touch called to ask me to interview for a new role at the global law firm. I was the only candidate the firm interviewed. I got the call and the job because I'd been persistent in my networking.

As I set out to build a new professional network, I understood that I was doing so not only to land a new job; I was building a network to do my new dream job. What a waste it would have been to fail to continue the connections I'd made with all those professional peers simply because I'd landed the job! Having a trusted network of industry peers who had experience in the role I was just stepping into made it much easier to get over the management learning curve (not to mention the benefit of having a sounding board on which to test my ideas).

Passion, talent, and hard work are not the only ingredients for success. Whether it is changing careers or changing the world, an idea without a network will probably never become reality. And the network of contacts you need in order to break through is often the network that initially fuels your career momentum. Though called upon less frequently now, my former colleagues in Toronto continue to be vital components of my network.

Networks determine which ideas become breakthrough innovations-and who gets introductions, offers, and all the other career and life perks that come with knowing someone in the know. Continually engaging and expanding my network is no longer my plan B; it is a professional priority. It is plan A.

Your next goal or career ambition-whether it's a promotion, landing a coveted internship, launching your own company, securing a board seat, crowdfunding a project, or appearing...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2018
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0143111493
• ISBN 13: 9780143111498
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 256
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar