As you probably know, Networking is fundamental to career innovation.
The saying “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” still holds true.
Indeed, Networking is already a key element of our Personal Branding Canvas‘s Communication Block (by the way: check the next Personal Branding Canvas Masterclass in Munich, special discount code here).
But Network structure is more important than size
Many, however, misunderstand the concept of Networking.
They focus on building a network of as many contacts as they can, perhaps focusing on the most “powerful” and high level. In reality, the size of a contact list does not count as much as the network’s structure. An effective network in fact has no more than 12-18 key contacts. These people will be distributed on organizational, hierarchical and possibly geographical lines in terms of those that are sources of information, advice and learning.
The people in this list should be those who inspire you and who are models of positive behavior (source Rob Cross, Harvard Business Review, that inspired this tool).
But how do you cultivate a group of useful, balanced and diversified contacts in a way that aligns with your career goals?
Introducing the Networking Canvas
To do precisely this we have created the Networking Canvas.
With its 3 development areas: personal, career and business, and 3 strategic priority areas: learn, boost, develop – it will help you identify which people to add or revise based on 9 different contacts categories.
Read the Getting started with the Networking Canvas and download it within the rest of our Career Innovation Toolkit now and start finding the right people to help you boost your career.