3 Ways of Incorporating Networking into Your Personal and Professional Development
For me, networking and connecting with individuals is the cornerstone of my personal development, which shows through my professional work and advancement. Over the past few years, I’ve been able to leverage various skills and strategies which have allowed me to meaningfully connect with individuals who have truly shaped my thinking and curiosity. Through this article, I hope to share three key skills and methods you can leverage to continue intentionally learning and seeking from those around you.
Reflecting over the past couple of years, I’ve realized that many of us (including myself) tend to create dichotomies between personal and professional development to make it easier for our brains to process how to conduct ourselves in different settings. It makes sense. Creating categories is easy for our brains; hence we don’t challenge this notion and continue to accept it. But the consequence of this is that we then work harder to develop two separate skill sets or toolkits and overwhelm ourselves when it comes to engaging with people in these settings.
But what happens when we leverage a single toolkit, foundationally based on values, storytelling and personal development, and use it contextually as we grow professionally?
By the end of this article, my call to action for you will be to deconstruct existing definitions of networking and focus on the intentionality behind why it’s critical to our personal and professional development.
It almost feels like the word networking has been overused on platforms like LinkedIn and in-person conversations, but why is that?
The reason is simple.
It’s because of the positive impact it can have on our development. The fact is that a tiny minority of people actively work towards building meaningful and long-lasting intentional connections that are fueled by give-and-take and balanced between work and life. Yet, if more of us focus on leveraging the skills/ methods that are used behind networking, we can work towards building a team behind each one of us that will keep us accountable, inspired, and driven.
Here are three ways you can intentionally incorporate networking into your personal and professional development:
Write down your own story. Identify what you need and what you can give.
Who are you? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What is it that you aspire to do? What is your long-term vision?
Before connecting with people on social media or sending cold emails/ direct messages, take some time to lay out your story and identify areas where you need support, guidance or inspiration. This exercise allows us to be strategic when reaching out to specific individuals and connecting with them as they might be able to add or support your story, and vice versa.
Do your research. Identify the “Super Networks/ Connectors.”
Networking and connecting with people can be super daunting. Yet, it becomes less daunting when you identify specific individuals whom you feel you can meaningfully connect with. This means using LinkedIn, Twitter, and other platforms to review the individual’s profile and listing certain aspects of their journey you can resonate with.
This can be as small as, “I saw on LinkedIn that you’ve worked in Scarborough at Scarborough Health Network; I actually graduated from the University of Toronto, Scarborough. It’s like my second home.”
Being able to relate with the individual you want to connect with can be a great conversation starter and help take the pressure of connecting with someone blindly.
Follow-up Regularly.
I cannot emphasize this enough.
You reached out to an individual in the first place because you found value in hearing from them and their story. Suppose you felt that the person was someone you’d need in your corner to support you through your growth, put in the effort to nurture the relationship. At the end of the call, request that you can set up a follow-up in the next couple of weeks or months to share updates and progress from their guidance.
These three skills/ methods helped me build confidence and set out a strategy when reaching out to people I value. Remember, everyone’s, including your own, time is valuable. Make the most out of it by bringing clarity to your own story, doing your research, and building on the relationships you initiate.
In my opinion, networking and connecting with like-minded people has nothing to do with being an introvert or extrovert. It has more to do with passion, curiosity, and the desire to learn continuously. There are many other tools I’ve been able to gather for my tool kit that I’d be more than happy to share. If you found value in this short article on networking and building your community, let me know, and I’d be more than happy to make a part two or even a part even.
Let me know what you think about this article in the comments below. Feel free to share ways you’ve found useful when intentionally networking and connecting with people!
