Expanding your network to bring new perspectives into your professional life
Suit: You outside the organisation
Networking doesn’t have to be as painful as it sounds. In fact, it’s a great opportunity to share with others what you’re all about, connect with some great peeps and understand how different people or businesses operate. And if you’re one of those who struggle to toot their own horns, well maybe you haven’t found the right way to network just yet. So how can you improve your network, in all areas of your life, without being stuck in Zoom meetings trying to sell your brand to strangers in one minute or less?
The point is to create an action plan that will allow you to expand your network in a manner that fits your skills, behaviours and values. Could you get involved in mentoring and meet promising rockstars? Could you volunteer for a project in a different team? Go get additional qualifications that will help you sell your brand story even better? Networking is part of life and we all know that in some instances, it’s still about who you know rather than what you know, so growing your network is an essential tool in your career development arsenal.
And although we understand that you sometimes have to know the right people to find the right opportunity, at Let’s Talk Talent we strongly believe that networking shouldn’t be used to the detriment of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I). Finding yourself surrounded by mini-me’s where everybody in your immediate circle thinks the same, or part of an exclusive club where only a certain profile of people can belong is a clear sign that there might be an unconscious bias at play here.
So think about your friends and wider network. How many of them are different? Are they mostly males? Females? White? Do you have anyone in your circle with a visible disability? If you’ve identified a clear bias, make sure you put yourself in different situations so you can meet people who will not only expand your network, but bring varied perspectives to your way of thinking.
Career Coaching Cards: Explained
This is a new series of blog posts, that explain our Career Coaching cards in more depth.
Our deck of cards contain 52 questions that help guide better career conversations and connect more with the individuals you’re having these conversations with.
Each week we are releasing a question from our deck with a little more information about why we think this question is a good question and what you are looking to get out of it when you ask it.
Download our career development whitepaper
Help you and your team get better at career planning and development. In this whitepaper we have some of our favourite workshops and other practical activities that should get you much further ahead.