An effective network along with BRAND-I, the way you are branded in the organisation and the Industry plays a critical role in professional success.
BRAND-I.
Brand-I is different from personal branding for products. Brand-I is all about you. It is the net summation of past experiences and the impact of re-calibrated expectations people have from you. It subsumes the way in which you make promises and fulfil them.
You don’t own Brand-I. It resides is in the mind of interfacing audience including those you may have never interacted. With every action and inaction, you are sending multiple messages. These messages and signals are being received and interpreted according to the individual’s filters. The audience tries fitting these messages into their individually known patterns to avoid any dissonance. Hence, they ruthlessly stereotype, distort and generalise them based on their own experiences and expectations.
NETWORK.
A network is as an open group of interconnected people across segments, professions and lifestyle. They share knowledge, information, and opportunities. They help, facilitate and solve each other’s problems by reallocating resources and connections, trading favours and obligations among the members and outside it.
It’s the need of the hour. To succeed you need a robust, secure network to leverage knowledge, information and opportunities. In fact, the degree of Relevance and Impact of Brand-I is critical to your potential to take advantage of its collective strength.
In addition to the skill, talent and available resources, even the best of us have to fall back on our reliable, effective network. On the other hand, professional success is mostly due to the way you get branded within the organisation or how our brand_i has been evolving with time.
What Comes First Network Or Brand-I?
One of the participants in my last open workshop (Rediscover- Brand-I) raised an interesting question. What comes first, Network or Brand-I. I can say, It is tough to take sides, they both are so interconnected.
It is ‘Effective Network’ and the ‘Relevant Brand-I’ that matters. And one needs both of them. They help to reach a position where the person can further influence and control the inputs and outcomes.
Effective Network.
One has a universe of acquaintances. Among them, we have our networks. Inside the larger network, is a subset called ‘effective network’.
It is not the people one knows by name and/or face. It is not even the set of people in the first and second degree of separation or connects in LinkedIn. It is not the set of friends and relatives on Facebook. Or the people in your WhatsApp group.
It is, in fact, the tiny group of people who fulfil these considerations.
- You know them and they know you.
- You have their coordinates easily available.
- You can, without hesitation, connect directly on the first level with them.
- They are sensitive to your needs and requirement.
- They will make every possible effort to suggest, influence and act to ensure a favourable outcome for you.
One of the basic requirement of an effective network is interdependence. It feeds on promise and expectation of action, sharing knowledge, linking connection and facilitation of processes whenever needed.
The more relevant and impactful your Brand-I, the more extensive your effective network. And the larger your effective network, the stronger your Brand-I.
Enhance the Effectiveness of your connects.
You can work on increasing your network and hope the ‘Quantity Means Quality’ principle works. Maybe the basic network funnel will ensure that your effective network improves.
Or you can adapt the Go-Giver attitude and enhance the effectiveness of your own current network. In my view, the second way is far more effective.
The Strength And Character Of An Effective Network.
Let us say your network universe with an nth level of separation is NU.
And out of these NK is the number of people who you know. A subset of people you can unhesitatingly reach out. The strength of your network is NK/NU.
If out of these NK, only NA is the number of networked entities that will consider your request and be influenced to act on your call.
Then the character of your Network is NA/NK. The aim is to move this figure as nearer to ‘1’ as possible.
The more natural way is to work with-in NK and convert them into NA. The character of your network improves the strength of it. And here is where the Go-Giver approach works wonders.
The Dead Network.
By know, you would agree that filled up visiting cards, a long list of email or an ever-expanding contact list in your phone is not your network. Remember, if no one is contacting you for help, favours, solution, facilitation or even recommendations – what you have is a worthless dead connection masquerading as a network.
A vibrant network is always buzzing. People here have better Brand-I. And a person with well-defined Brand-I and the go-giver attitude has a buzzing network.
Visualising The Network.
Close your eyes. And think of all your connections like colonies of expertise. Some of them, and most likely in your field of expertise, are densely populated. Some networks that are neither founded on your job, family, passion or hobby, are not so densely populated.
Visualise these colonies of expertise as interconnected nodes.
Now switch on the lights. The higher the degree of interdependence and hence the frequency of connections between two modes, the broader and brighter is the path connecting them.
PEXEL PIXABAY 373543
Now layer this with the power of your expectations and confidence from these nodes. Go ahead use a different coloured light. Let the character of the network define the brightness of these colonies. Fix this visual in your memory space.
Focus and evaluate it. Are the nodes and paths as bright as you would want them to be? In what way does it reflect your brand-I? How many of those interconnected brightly lit paths pass through you? Which are the paths you would have wanted to be stronger? Identify and note such paths? These are the nodes you need to work at.
Working On enhance Effectiveness.
- Stop working the visiting cards. Both as sharer or collector.
- Meet less number of people but ensure they are the one you want in your effective network.
- Listen in to the conversation. Know more about the other person than share about yourself.
- Don’t connect only when you have work or need some help. And don’t connect for help immediately on establishing a connection.
- Better, try connecting with no agenda. Offer your intent and willingness to be of help.
- Stop dependency on social platforms and electronic communication. If you can’t meet, talk to them. Try talking to people on your phone list with whom you have not spoken in some time. Speak to your family and friends.
- Remember the Go-Getter approach. Be willing to help and facilitate.
The next series of ‘BRAND-I workshop, Mantra for professional success’ is being planned at Mukhteshwar, Nagpur, Jabalpur and Pune. If interested write to Sanjeev@Intradia.in or clicks the banner below. Do connect for a special three-hour BRAND-I session at Management and other professional institutes.
Blog/40/2019
