I'm sitting on a panel in a conference in Chicago, and the moderator asks each of us panelists, "What is your favorite networking tip?"
The first panelist says, "If you want to network with people, you have to show up where they hang out. Research the people you want to know. Find out where they spend time. Frequent the grocery stores in their neighborhood, so you can run into them there. Find out where their kids play soccer, and show up at a game. It's all about being at the right place at the right time."
Holy smokes, I thought, that is the creepiest networking advice ever! In fact, that sort of stalker-training goes against everything I believe about networking. The fact is, you don't need to research your targets' shopping habits and children's sports proclivities.
Let's put aside the idea of ambush-networking a chosen few individuals and broaden our perspective. Let's say you want a job at ABC Corp., or would love to sell your product to the purchasing folks at the same organization. What are you going to do -- put together a dossier on the HR VP or the purchasing manager, and lie in wait for that person in the produce aisle? Let's say you should actually run into your quarry -- what's next? Would you intentionally bump shopping carts in order to start a conversation, like "Say, nice peaches you got there! Are those tree-ripened?"
It's a ridiculous idea. We can meet all the people we need to meet (for our job-search sakes or to grow our entrepreneurial businesses) without any of that subterfuge. We can reach out to the people we already know, people who trust us. Those folks can use the power of their own networks to make additional introductions, bringing us closer to the people we'd most like to contact.
Supposedly we are all connected -- everyone on Earth, I mean -- to one another by no more than five intermediate contacts. That's the "Six Degrees of Separation" idea. It says that if you're in Pittsburgh, and you name a random person in Lappland, you could reach that person via no more than five handshakes -- in most cases, far fewer. Imagine if we set our networks to the task of creating introductions for us at certain appealing organizations? Our networks will come through.
LinkedIn makes it easy to see exactly whom our friends know and whom we haven't met ourselves. You can join up for free and in just a few minutes at www.linkedin.com.
Another easy way to ask for help with introductions is to email our friends as a group (bcc:ing everyone on the list, of course) to ask "I've spotted a job at XYZ Corp that looks perfect for me. If you know someone there, would you mind introducing me to him or her, after which I'll politely request a five-minute phone chat?" The workplace ecosystem is very porous these days. People know people, and people move around at a rapid pace. You won't have much trouble snagging an introduction to a person at almost any organization, if you're diligent about asking for help.
Introductions, above all, rely on trust. An introduction is always more valuable when it comes from someone who knows us well and can tell the story behind the relationship. That's far more useful, and more satisfying, than bushwhacking a businessperson in the banana section.
Liz Ryan is a 25-year HR veteran, former Fortune 500 VP and an internationally recognized expert on careers and the new millennium workplace. She is the author of "Happy About Online Networking," a popular speaker on workplace and work/life topics, and the leader of the global Ask Liz Ryan online community. Contact Liz at liz@asklizryan.com.
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