The eye of the storm

No matter what stage of your career you are at, in today's world of constant challenge, change and busyness you simply will not be able to move fast enough on your own. And sitting on your hands and waiting for the world to help you is like sitting in the middle of a tornado.

YOU HAVE TO TAKE OWNERSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITY
FOR YOUR OWN DECISIONS AND DIRECTION, OR RISK
GETTING SUCKED UP AND SPAT OUT IN A TOTALLY
UNEXPECTED PLACE.

You must learn to build a strategic network that works for you.

To survive the whirlwind, you need to unlearn everything you have been told to date about networking. Ask yourself: Who is in my network now? Who should be in my network now? How can we work together as a group to effect change? Author Shannon Adler put it beautifully when she said, ‘When you invite people to share in your miracle, you create future allies during rough weather.'

Richard Branson said, ‘No-one is successful alone.' Building a network for personal growth in the 21st century hinges on connecting and collaborating with the right people, openly sharing knowledge and insights with individuals who understand, at a deeper level, our goals and aspirations and who nurture a collective interest in our own growth and that of the whole group. It is only when we learn to move together that we start to move faster.

People power

Every year more than 2500 people gather for five days in Davos, Switzerland, to discuss global challenges at the World Economic Forum. This meeting brings together many of the world's most influential people: presidents, prime ministers, business and financial leaders, journalists and celebrities, from Al Gore to Bill Gates, Bono to Paulo Coelho.

The role of the World Economic Forum, established in 1971 by the Austrian politician Klaus Schwab, is.

to connect the dots, to provide leaders with a space to proactively focus on the future and develop a forward-looking strategic view in a world that is increasingly interconnected and, at the same time, absorbed by the challenges of the past²

It is the very act of bringing these diverse people together that makes the meeting of minds at Davos so vital. As Schwab put it, ‘Progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.'

Connecting and collaborating with others of diverse skills and experience (as Katniss did) helps to compensate for our own personal weaknesses. We all have individual strengths, passions and experience to draw on. But if we dwell only on our strengths and ignore our weaknesses we risk getting left behind.

Connecting only with like-minded people, though, which happens a lot when you're busy transacting with people (as we saw in the previous chapter), stifles our growth.

It's natural that we connect most with others in our own organisation or vocation. Lawyers spend time with others in the legal profession, small business people share their business challenges with others working in a similar area, graduates share their early career frustrations with fellow graduates. At some point, however, this conversation becomes oversaturated and we get ‘over it'.

The key is to connect with diverse people, because through diversity you build competitive advantage.

What area are you weak or lacking in? Make a concerted effort to seek out and connect with someone who is strong in that particular area.

Value is a two-way street

In their book The Go-Giver, authors Bob Burg and John David Mann tell the story of an ambitious young man, Joe, who yearns for success. Joe is a go-getter with clear goals and success targets, but the harder he works the further away from his goals he finds himself.

One day, desperate to land a sale at the end of a bad sales quarter, Joe approaches Pinder, a legendary consultant, for advice. Pinder introduces Joe to his diverse network of trusted colleagues representing a wide variety of industries and jobs.

Pinder's friends encourage Joe to embrace the power of giving, of sharing insights and knowledge with others. Joe learns about the opportunity generated when we put others' interests before our own, when we consistently look for ways to add value for others, when we network for mutual benefit rather than seeking advantage only for ourselves.

AT THE HEART OF A SUCCESSFUL NETWORK LIES
THE CONCEPT OF VALUE EXCHANGE — A MUTUALLY
BENEFICIAL PROCESS THAT RELIES ON MORE
THAN JUST A TRANSACTION.

Value exchange is about two or more individuals sharing insights, connections, knowledge and ideas. This is where sales and market value increase exponentially.

In his book Give and Take, Adam Grant suggests the individuals most likely to rise to the top are often ‘Givers', those who contribute most to others. ‘Takers', who seek to gain as much as possible from others, and ‘Matchers', who aim to give and take in equal amounts, rarely experience the same success.

In addition, something magical happens when ‘Givers' thrive:

Givers succeed in a way that creates a ripple effect, enhancing the success of people around them. Every time we interact with another person at work, we have a choice to make: do we try to claim as much value as we can, or contribute value without worrying about what we receive in return?

Victor Webster writes, ‘If you throw a pebble into the water on one side of the ocean, it can create a tidal wave on the other side.' An effective network creates a ripple effect of growth and opportunity. Social psychologists call it the ‘Law of Reciprocity'; others recognise it in the social convention of ‘what goes around comes around'. No matter who you are, and what your title or area of responsibility, every connection you make has an impact. Each connection and interaction creates a ripple, which leads to countless others down the line.

Networking is like throwing a pebble into a pond. Individually we are all capable of creating some kind of movement, but working together we create ripples that build momentum and impact as they spread.

It's not a competition

The business world has become increasingly competitive, but networking doesn't need to be about competition. Let me explain.

The Johari Window model, developed in 1955 by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, was aimed at helping improve understanding between individuals. It was based on the idea that you can only build trust in others by disclosing information about yourself, and that feedback from others helps us learn and improve ourselves.

Our network is built along similar lines: by sharing parts of ourselves, we find that others are willing to share with us. We are all in this together.

Many entrepreneurs I meet spend more time worrying about whether they will find the right collaborative opportunities than about what their competitors are doing. They understand the value that exists in working together, sharing intelligence and insight to create new opportunities, products and markets.

YOUR SUCCESS WILL BE COMPOUNDED WHEN
YOU COLLABORATE OPENLY, WILLINGLY AND WITH
COMPLETE, HONEST, FULL DISCLOSURE.

Focus on the competition, obsess about what they are doing and what you think you should be doing, and you'll go round and round in circles to no effect.

In my book From Me to We: Why commercial collaboration will future proof business, leaders and personal success, I discuss in detail the seven re-connect principles that drive collaborative working practices. One of the key principles is value exchange.

Some worry that participating in a small, mutually beneficial network means engaging with our competition, and that they'll find out about our weaknesses and use them against us. There is no doubt in my mind that the opportunity offered by mutual value exchange is far greater than the risk of competition.

I am not so naive as to claim that competition doesn't happen. Sure, at some point you may feel like someone took one of your ideas and ran with it. Business may even feel like it's getting personal as people piggyback off your thinking. I know this from personal experience. It can be devastating — if you allow it to be. But that's the key: it will crush you only if you allow it to.

In the early days of my business my initial conviction was reinforced by a growing client base and healthy bank account. I was focused, determined, well and truly in the zone. I knew what I was doing, knew my bigger why and how I was going to achieve my goals. No-one could stop me.

Then, after the first 18 months, I opened my eyes to what was going on around me. I became increasingly aware of the competition in my field. I listened to external commentary, which pulled me in multiple directions. Instead of focusing on the positives that stared me in the face, I started paying attention to the downsides of what I was doing. The result? I started to go round and round in circles, frozen in time.

The lesson? If you focus on what the competition are doing and what they might think of you, you will make no progress at all. But when you focus on your network and goals, collaborating with people who will help drive your growth, the positive results will flow.

Ingredients of a powerful network

In ‘Building an Innovation Factory' (HBR, May 2000), Andrew Hargadon and Robert I. Sutton discuss how to broker and capture good ideas for true and long-lasting effect. One of the companies studied is IDEO, an international design and consulting firm founded in Palo Alto, California. The most respected people at IDEO are:

1. part pack rat — they have great private collections of stuff
2. part librarian — they know who knows what
3. part Good Samaritan — they go out of their way to share what they know and to help others.

Approach your network in a similar way. You need a personal:

1. board of advisers that brings out the best in you
2. intelligence bank that sustains you over the long term
3. marketing machine that champions you and your cause.

Let's look at each of these in a bit more detail.

1. YOUR PERSONAL BOARD OF ADVISERS

American entrepreneur and motivational speaker Jim Rohn says, ‘You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with.' In this book, I'm recommending you surround yourself with a minimum of four people, with 12 as an ideal.

It is essential that you build your own intimate network covering key skills. Think of this as your own personal board of advisers who add to your ideas and bring out the best in you at every stage of your career.

We invest in personal trainers for our fitness goals, financial advisers for our investment goals, even meditation teachers for our work–life goals. It is just as important to invest in a personal board of advisers as a sounding board and safety net to explore your ideas and plan your next career steps. Your boardroom provides encouragement, support and inspiration.

So who do you need to surround yourself with to inspire you and help you achieve more? Who do you need around you to provide support and to challenge your thinking? Who helps you test ideas, proposals or product innovations before you launch to a wider audience?

2. YOUR PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE BANK

Think of building your network as creating a personal ‘intelligence bank' in which you invest in the same way a child makes regular coin deposits into their piggybank. The heavier the piggybank becomes, the more they have saved to purchase something important to them later. Invest in the right people with the right skills and it will pay dividends over the long term.

Appreciate the value of an intelligence bank and the potential of the value exchange. Perhaps suggest to individuals in your network that you ‘swap' a skill for a skill, so you each learn something you previously had no knowledge of.

BUILD YOUR INTELLIGENCE BANK BY EMBRACING
THE STRENGTHS AND SKILLS OF OTHERS
AROUND YOU, AND IN THIS WAY CREATE MORE
OPPORTUNITY TO INFLUENCE OTHERS.

3. YOUR PERSONAL MARKETING MACHINE

This is about forming a personal cheer squad who help you to create momentum because they believe in you.

Troye Sivan is a South African–born Australian singer, songwriter, actor, and YouTube personality. An early adopter of YouTube (2007), Troye began by uploading videos of himself singing cover songs. Five years later he started posting more personal video blogs, and in 2013 he released the track ‘The Fault in Our Stars', which went viral thanks to his legion of online fans. EMI noticed and approached him with a record deal — the marketing machine hit the ground running.

In 2014, with more than 4 million subscribers and over 241 million total video views, Time magazine named Troye one of the top 25 most influential teens. Troye's significant fan base has become his marketing machine. And he has a close, tight-knit network that supports his bigger-picture vision.

Without a marketing machine around you, your ability to create change and build engagement and influence is limited. To really drive your net worth and influence, you have to tap into what's around you.

Focus drives momentum

It's easy to put off committing to health and fitness plans or personal development goals and just blob out in front of the latest reality TV show. These days the only way we seem to be able to keep focused is if our goal involves fundraising for a charity event.

Sometimes it's hard, really hard, to stay focused in the zone. Competitors do something, the media shows us something, friends say something and we either listen or ignore it.

This is the beauty of having your personal advisory board, your intelligence bank, your marketing machine. They understand your bigger-picture goals and dreams. They are your sounding board and help shape your thinking. This network will help you stay in the zone and develop resilience during the tough times, and will fuel your hunger and belief.

Your network will keep your focus laser sharp and help guide you towards the decisions you need to make to move forward. As American sociologist Ronald Burt puts it, ‘Instead of better glasses, your network gives you better eyes.'

It's up to you to turn your focus inwards, to look strategically at who is in your current network and who can help you get to where you're going. Which is what we explore in part II.