Building Your Strategic Network

Develop strong relationships to advance your agenda and goals

Every organization has an informal structure of key people who are the “go to” team members who know how to get things done. Strategic networking provides a way to navigate this informal organization to build the key relationships that will help them achieve their goals. Strategic networkers target whom they want to talk to, why, and what they want as the outcome of each conversation. They engage in meaningful and successful conversations with a view toward building strong relationships based on mutual trust and respect.

In this Sprint, participants create a networking strategy using a Stepping-Stone approach to map out introductions and conversations that will begin to shape their strategic networks. They will evaluate their current networking styles and take steps to develop relationships that support their initiatives and career aspirations. They’ll learn how to leverage four types of networkers: boundary spanners, connectors, peripheral players, and subgroups in order to make connections up-and-down, across and beyond the organization. Participants practice communication methods that foster trust and learn to avoid barriers that hinder relationships.

People who master strategic networking find that they are more credible, more effective at moving projects forward and more likely to be promoted faster.