IT’S HOW YOU LEARN

A great leadership network will include many different types of people and organisations. But fundamentally, a network should be full of people you can learn from, whether that’s the next generation of up-and-coming innovators, your industry peer group, or subject experts in your field.

Sometimes a difficult problem you face as a leader is better discussed with someone who has no stake in the outcome of the decision. Not everything can be dealt with in-house and it’s good to have a network of formal and informal advisers and friends who can act as sounding boards. Having a network will help you learn from the other interesting players in your sector, who will often be the best people with whom to share ideas and learn about what’s coming down the pipe.

IT’S HOW YOU MEET PEOPLE WHO CAN HELP YOU SUCCEED

Your business will need many other people to be successful, whether they’re working in it as an employee, working with it as a partner, client or supplier, investing in it as an angel or venture capitalist, or commenting on it as a journalist or market analyst.

And while there are formal channels for meeting all these different people, the relationships you build will be much stronger if they’re developed in more informal, less transactional conditions. Someone you meet over breakfast at an event, or through speaking at a conference, gets to know you when you’re not in the middle of doing business. That provides a much stronger basis for a non-transactional, trust-based working relationship than if you only ever meet people while ‘at work’.

IT’S HOW YOU GET KNOWN

When you’re building a business, building its profile is a critical success factor. A large part of that success will be driven by how you as a leader tell the story of your business to key constituencies, from potential recruits to investors, clients and the media. As a leader, much of your most valuable work will take place outside the office walls, engaging with people who can help your business, and whom you can help and offer opportunities to in turn.

The same applies if you’re building a leadership career within someone else’s business. At this stage, the story you’re building is your own: you might be looking for a new role, or people who could help and advise you on taking the next step. Whatever stage you’re at, it’s never too soon to get yourself out there: you never know when the connections you make and the relationships you build may turn out to be needed. Building a network is a virtuous circle too, and generates momentum over time, as current contacts are comfortable introducing you to their contacts, and a warm introduction is far more likely to yield results than a cold call from someone you’ve never heard of. A case in point is this book – we get leadership coaches approaching the business every week, but Niamh and I were introduced to each other by Matt Stevenson, the brilliant, inspirational CEO of footballing charity, Street League. Matt and I go back a long way and if he makes an introduction I know it’s in my best interests to follow up. The rest, as they say, is history!

Reciprocity is the key to successful networking so find ways to start building relevant and reciprocal relationships with the people you’d like to be part of your network. Think about the tools you have at your disposal that could bring value to your network, and at the same time consider which of your contacts will bring most value to your business, then find the sweet spot. Could you interview them for your company blog, host an event and ask them to speak on a panel, or invite them to be a thought leader on a podcast you produce? There may be a valuable introduction you can make or a prospective client you can bring to them. Try hard to make networking worthwhile for everyone involved – for you and for your contact, for their business and for your business; that way you can build lasting relationships rather than having a ten-minute conversation or an unfocused ‘catch up over coffee’. And if there’s a golden rule of networking? Be sure to give more than you take.

MENTORS

Many leaders enjoy talking to people a few steps further on the journey, who have been through – and survived! – similar experiences to their own everyday problems and big hairy challenges. If you’re looking for a mentor, it’s good to seek out people who have held roles similar to your own, who can empathise with your situation and are prepared to listen, encourage and help you navigate key challenges. There’s a vogue for mentors and mentoring initiatives as we write in 2017 and the expectations are sometimes unrealistic. A mentor will not tell you who to fire or how to land your next big client. But they can listen to your challenges, ask probing questions and suggest some ways forward that you may not have considered. So find out about mentoring initiatives within your business or sector and always pay it forward – if you’re lucky enough to have a mentor, think about who you could be mentoring in turn. It’s never too soon to start helping others step up, and in our experience the most valuable mentors are often just a year or two ahead, which makes their insight timely and the advice bang up to date.

If you thought that all mentors are traditional ‘grey-beards’, you’d be wrong. If you’re someone who can’t immediately tell your Snap from your Insta, consider a reverse-mentor: a younger adviser who’s plugged into new media and emerging platforms that you’d like to better understand.

PEERS

Just as you’ll benefit from people who have previously walked in your shoes, you need others who are living the same challenges as you right now. A peer group is one of the most important parts of any leadership network, and from our personal experience it is the most effective group for helping to hone your leadership skills.

People often look surprised when they hear I’ve never had a mentor, but that’s because I’ve been incredibly lucky to have inspirational co-founders to learn from along the way. While mentors can be a good sounding board, it is your direct peers, those living through the same challenges and everyday realities, from whom you will often learn the most. They have their fingers on the pulse of what is happening right now and can point you to emerging trends and time-saving hacks. Think of it as part idea sharing, part relationship building and part therapy!

Don’t wait to be invited to a peer group meet-up; if there’s nothing that meets your needs, then take the initiative and start your own. Your peer group should extend beyond those you work alongside, so make the first move to build relationships with your opposite numbers in companies you admire.

TRUTH TELLERS

One of the biggest risks for any leader is that you become surrounded by a coterie of people who tell you only what you want to hear. This isn’t just a problem for CEOs in 25th floor boardrooms either: it could be supportive colleagues who are trying to be helpful but not giving you the straight-shooting advice you need to get better. You need a truth teller: someone who is going to give dispassionate, constructively critical and very direct input on the issues you’re grappling with. Whether that’s a business coach you pay or a trusted client you ask to be your ‘critical friend’, having a dose of straight talking fresh from the outside world is an invigorating corrective to your assumptions and can often bring a refreshing change of tone and perspective.

THOUGHT LEADERS

Building a network shouldn’t just be about doing a better job today; it should also help you to be better informed about what’s going on in your industry and what’s coming round the corner tomorrow. Get to know the people who are at the cutting edge of the newest trends, technologies and developments in your field. Cultivate the researchers, academics and experts who are shaping the future of your industry. They may not help solve the problems you face today, but they could well give you competitive advantage tomorrow. Do you have any unique data or research that you could share with them to confirm their latest hypothesis or add to their upcoming industry presentation? If you can help them out and be associated with their research, the halo effect will be powerful and positive for your personal brand.

CHAMPIONS

Whatever stage you’re up to on your leadership journey, you’ll need people who are on your side and championing your cause. No one becomes a successful leader alone, and most people who run major businesses have had a succession of people who believed in them, invested time and advice in them and whose recommendation and support was key to their progress. A champion is someone who will actively further your cause. If you’re lucky enough to have a champion in your organisation, don’t forget to keep them up to date on your latest projects and achievements – give them the material they need to sing your praises when you’re not around, and don’t forget to see whether there’s anything you could be doing to help them with their goals. Even champions appreciate a helping hand!

SOCIAL BUDDIES

Most people’s conception of networking revolves around IRL (in real life) events, but you should also be looking to social networks too. You’re probably already using tools like LinkedIn and Twitter, but are you making the most of them? Do you actively engage with people you want to get to know, post your own content and opinion, and join relevant LinkedIn groups? An increasing amount of networking now happens online and the power of digital is that it allows you to reach people who are outside your immediate sector and geography. Grab the opportunity to build a contact base of people online who can offer you a whole new perspective on the opportunities to step up in your industry and beyond.

MAKE IT RELEVANT

I only ever go to events where I feel I can learn something. Talking to somebody is a bonus. And it’s a lot easier to talk to someone when you’ve just heard a kickass lecture or watched a synapse-tingling demo. I ask myself three questions when considering whether to go to a networking gig:

1. What can I learn from this event?
2. What value can I bring to this event?
3. How can I ensure it brings value back to my business?

The first question determines which events I choose to attend: I only go to places where I’m confident there’ll be new experiences, ideas or viewpoints I haven’t come across before. On adding value, I focus on tweeting, speaking and asking questions, and then being alive to the other people in the room: saying hello to the person who’s attending alone and looking shy, introducing people to each other, even showing people the way to the loos. Don’t attend an event if you’re not willing to throw yourself into it, and to make yourself useful!

On the third point, you can get off to a good start by reading up on participants in advance, identifying any clients and connecting with them on LinkedIn ahead of the event. During any presentations, see if you can make notes and share them straight back into the business – turn them into a blog post if you’re somewhere really cool. My advice here is don’t delay on getting any of this done: do as much as possible in real time, take photos, tweet and write notes during speaker sessions. I don’t use business cards any more – too slow and easy to lose – and instead I open up an email on my phone, pop in the email address of the person I’ve just met and write them a ‘hello from Unruly Sarah’ email there and then, looping in any relevant people from Unruly, to make sure that the people who will actually get stuff done are looped in straight away! So pick your events carefully, make sure it’s relevant for you and your business, then throw yourself into it.

BE ACTIVE AND RECIPROCAL

A network is both an organic creation and a living thing, which will wither and die if you don’t nurture it. Find reasons to stay in touch with the people who matter to you, even when there’s no immediate reason for doing so. It could be as simple as an invitation to meet, an introduction to someone who may be useful to them, or a quick note to share some nugget of information you think they may find interesting.

By the same token, you need to build reciprocal relationships where you are thinking as much about what you can do for the other person as they can do for you. People who are only ever contacted in time of need will soon recoil from a relationship that feels one-sided and expedient. Be proactive about how you can help and support people in your network; don’t allow relationships to drift into a state where it’s all take and no give. One way of helping is to be the host – whether that’s suggesting drinks in the pub to mark a business milestone or convening an ‘innovation summit’ themed around a current hot topic in your sector. For sure it’s more work, but you’ll get so much more out of a group you have yourself convened than being a spectator at somebody else’s event.