How to Network

How to Expand Your Network

Expanding your network is crucial for career success, especially early on.

Your network compounds over time, so it’s worthy of the upfront investment.

An established relationship with the right person can be significant. But what people underestimate is that you have the potential to benefit from their network, too. This is why you need to be strategic when developing your network. It’s not just the individual, but it’s their network, both present and future.

With that, here are a few thoughts I want to share on this topic:

1. Ask questions, good ones. Be curious about other people. Resist the temptation to make conversations about you and your accomplishments. Make the conversation about the other person. You’ll be far more endearing if you’re inquisitive instead of spewing off a list of reasons someone needs to be interested in you.

2. Make your intentions known at the right time. Remember, you want to be curious about the other person, but naturally, they’ll ask about you. While you don’t respond with “I would like to include you in my official network because I’m hoping you can help me with X,” - You can weave that in. Make your intro incredibly concise. And end by turning it back to them. “I’m looking to break into Medical Affairs. Can you tell me more about how you got your start?”

3. Become a magnet. If you do great work, you’ll attract other people over time. If you do great work and share it (by becoming a producer), your pull will be multiplied. For me, this newsletter is a good example. You may not think this newsletter is “great,” but I’m sharing my thoughts, and already, it’s been an inflection point for my professional network. You might consider that an extreme example, and I’m not suggesting this is the only path, but figure out a way to share your thoughts and expertise effectively. People will find you.

4. Make investments early. Had you invested in Apple in the early 1990’s, you probably wouldn’t be reading this newsletter. 🙂 You’d be filthy rich. The point is that you need to speculate on a few people within your network. Take a chance, invest time, and you’ll derive some benefit from their future success.

5. Do what you commit to, always. While you have the possibility to benefit from someone else’s network, there’s also a risk that a negative experience is scaled far beyond that person. To that end, do what you say you will do. Be respectful and have high integrity. Basic stuff, but it’s too often overlooked.

Pruning Your Network

While it’s vital to expand one’s network, at some point, it becomes counterproductive.

A healthy network requires an investment. The investment is primarily time. Your time and that of those that are in your network. Time, as you know, is finite. Thus, prioritization is required to maintain health.

Returning to pumpkins. Prioritization, in this sense, is another way of saying you need to prune your network regularly.

Pumpkins are interesting. The vines, when left untended, are massive and become unwieldy. That results in a lot of wasted energy and suboptimal pumpkins, at least in terms of size. However, if the vine is pruned, the plant can devote all its resources to developing a single fruit. That’s the key to prize-winning pumpkins that weigh over a ton.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not suggesting you develop a network that relies on a single individual. The pumpkin, in this case, is a surrogate for your goal.

If your objective is to land your first job in Medical Affairs, you must prune your network of folks detracting from that goal. This might seem a bit harsh, and in some ways it is.

That said, you have a limited amount of time and energy that can be devoted to developing your network. With that realization, I’m suggesting that you should identify people who will have the most significant potential impact on your career and invest in those relationships.

If you’re struggling with how to apply this to your current situation, let me help.

1. The first thing you should do is prune the “detractors” - These people do not support your goal. Some of these might be close friends or even family members. Perhaps you don’t remove them from your life, but don’t discuss this topic with them. Avoid negative energy. Most commonly, detractors are your current colleagues, especially if you’re trying to switch careers. They don’t understand, or they project their difficulties and failures onto you. Which is another way of saying they’re jealous. Run from these people.

2. From there, you need to evaluate the rest of your network critically. Some people should probably be moved to the “back burner.” You’re not going to cut them out necessarily, but you’re going to limit your investment in the relationship because it’s unlikely they’ll help you reach your goal in the near term.

3. Hopefully, there are several people left. You’ll want to increase your investment in these relationships. If nobody fits the bill, then it’s time to expand your network with intention.

At this point, I want to mention that I don’t view networking as a one-way street. While I’ve focused on how someone might be able to help you, it’s essential to identify opportunities where you might be able to provide value to the other person.