Please make sure you read Ibarra's Ch $3($Network Across and Out$).$

Discussion Questions:

What is your view of networking? Do you do it$?$ Are you good at it$?$

What type of networking do you do$?$ Operational, personal, or strategic?

What are the BCDs of network advantage?

How dynamic is your network?

Complete Your Network Audit.

Your Network Audit:

Think of up to ten people with whom you have discussed important work matters over the past few months $($you are not required to come up with ten$).$ You might have sought them out for advice, to bounce ideas off them, to help you evaluate opportunities, or to help you strategize important moves. Don$$t worry about who they should be$.$ Only name people to whom you actually turned for this help recently.

Take a moment to examine the names you listed. List up to three strengths and three challenges of having this set of connections at the core of your network:

The main strengths of my network as it exists today are $...$

The main challenges of my network as it exists today are $...$

Please calculate your network's density. As you review your network's density, do you all know each other? Density represents the percentage of people who know each other in a network. The lower your density score the less inbred your network $-$ which may or may not be a good thing.

What is your opinion of your network's density? Why?

Next Steps:

Identify fifteen to twenty key stakeholders you wish to stay connected to in a meaningful way.

Assign these contacts into key categories $($i$.$e$.,$ most senior clients, most senior people, most senior women$).$

For each category, select the three to five people you want to stay connected to$.$

Decide how frequently you will reach out to each contact.

Who can you ask for referrals and introductions?

What are two things you can do to cultivate a relationship with each of your three to five people you want to stay connected to$?$