To help and be helped
Networking post-corporate
When I left bp I had 650 connections on LinkedIn. I scanned through and 80% were from bp. Which in hindsight was pointless because I’d been able to contact all those people much more easily using internal systems and email. It also meant that most of the posts I was liking and commenting on were from people within my company.
It was a pretty insular network.
Many corporate people’s network is. Most of the people we need to get things done inside a corporate work inside the corporate. If you’re customer- or supplier-facing it’s different of course – then you may have people clamouring to be in your network to sell you something or build a relationship. But in most big companies that’s a small proportion of the workforce. Most people are feeding the machine from the inside.
It's pretty obvious that once you leave the company you’re no longer inside the circle, you can’t access those internal systems and your access to people changes. Sure, people are polite, but you’re no longer someone of influence. You actually can’t help them like you once did.
If you think of networks as concentric circles, you’ve slipped into an outer circle.
And also vice versa.
That can reinforce any rejection you’re already feeling. Isolation, disconnection, discombobulation.
Leaving you especially vulnerable if your plan to make a living depends on your old corporate networks.
The practical things you can do here are pretty obvious: spam everyone you know to tell them you’ve left and what you’re planning to do next, go on a frenzy of LinkedIn self-promotion to connect with as many people as possible, go to a load of networking events online and in person and hope you build connections.
Some of these things must work. But I’ve never done them and I don’t think I ever will.
Partly because if all you want is to increase your network there are far easier ways. One of my gigs is with Startupbootcamp, where I run a very cool startup accelerator programme. When I was scouting for startups, the team set up an automated reach-out using a tool called Dripify with a semi-personalised message from me, based on some relevant criteria in their LinkedIn profile.
My network was expanding 25+ a day, which mounts up fast – due to network effects.
Useful for that particular scenario, not much use if the programme ends or I move on.
The point is, if you want numbers, you can get them.
But it’s pretty shallow. Quantity over quality.
I don’t believe in scattergun marketing. My marketing is all about targeting. Thinking deeply about your customer, or the person in your network, what problem are they likely to have (today or in the future) - then ask if you can help them.
A week before I left bp a former colleague posted a nice message on LinkedIn talking me up. A CEO of a medium sized company in his network saw that message, asked for a chat and 2.5 years later I’m still doing some really fun marketing consultancy with him.
You would be amazed how productive connecting with just a few people each week can be – and how much easier it is on the ego too.
Quality over quantity. Always.
Don’t dilute yourself.
That’s this week’s exercise. Identify just three people you’d like in your network. Draft a few lines and tell them why. Be nice, offer to help, ask for nothing in return. And then identify three more for next week.
We have a lot to learn from the startup world when we leave the corporate world. There, the philosophy is ‘give first’ – how can I help?
It's the game-changer in networking. How can I help you? You’ll be amazed how it builds a strong network of people clamouring to reciprocate over time.
I talked to a fellow Corporate Escapologist last week who told me how his old corporate network had helped him since he left. His new employer is growing fast and needs high quality talent; my friend can connect him to his old colleagues. Adding value to them, his employer and to himself in the role of super-connector.
Who knows, those 650 people in my network before I left bp might one day become valuable to me again – all the more reason never to burn bridges or turn your back.
Networking is a long game.
My last bit of advice about networking follows the Chinese proverb:
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
It’s the same for networking.
Start today. Before you leave your corporate job. Before you really need it.
If you know someone thinking about leaving corporate life to do something else, I would love you to share my blog. Hopefully it can help them prepare and move on.
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