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How to Build a Powerful Network

In: Business and Management

Submitted By charitbhatt
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Article – The real way to build a social network Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha
This article is from the February 6, 2012 issue of Fortune.

“Networking” is a very common word now-a-days. It is not only about what you know, but it is also about who you know.
Reid Hoffman is a partner at Greylock and founder and executive chairman at LinkedIn Ben Casnocha is an award-winning entrepreneur and author. The article talks about building a social network. It tells about building a relationship with others requires two important abilities. First, one should be able to see the world from other perspective. Second, one should be able to collaborate with other by helping them and not by thinking what he/she would get in return. Keith Ferrazzi, author, New York Times #1 bestsellers, Who's Got Your Back and Never Eat Alone quotes:
“The currency of real networking is not greed but generosity.”
The article then goes on and describe the ways in which one can diversify and strength his/her network. The author describes that the best way to increase the efficiency of your network is by strengthening your relationship with people who you already have in your network. The article also talks about the weak ties and how they can help you increase the effectiveness of your network. Weak ties are normally outside one’s inner circle and hence have a greater probability to give new information that your close relationship might not. The article then goes on to talk about the three degree of separation. This idea specifically excited me. A person extended network is much more diverse and bigger than he realize. This gave birth to one of the early taglines of LinkedIn “Your Network is bigger than you think”.
It also gives an idea about an ideal network. An ideal network would be where you have both the close allies and the weak ties. In words of Reid Hoffmann “The best professional network is both narrow/deep (allies with whom you collaborate regularly) and wide/ shallow (weak-tie acquaintances who offer fresh information and ideas).”
The article also describes how to strengthen our relationship within a network. It is not only about what you get from the relationship but also what you give in the relationship. The best way to strengthen your ties is by helping others. Reid also tells us that it not just about creating a relation but also about maintaining them. At the end of the article, Reid gives us three rules to follow to help build and improve your network.
Building a powerful network has many advantages. It gives you access to private information, gives you access to a diverse skillset and distributes the power in a network. The article describes how to develop relationship with both the strong allies and the weak ties. Also, the three degree of separation gives you access to a very diverse resources which can help you grow both personally and professionally. It also helps us gauge the depth of our network and how to get maximum benefit out of it. The “Network Assessment” exercise for the class is a very good tool to gauge you current network. This gives you a picture of your current network and provides a starting point on improving your network with the help of the techniques given in the article and the reading. I believe one should repeat the Network Assessment exercise every six months to get a feedback on his/her own network. This would help him assess the shortcomings in his network.

This topic has applications/ implications for everybody’s career. For me, coming from an international background I need to diversify my network a lot. I want my network to be more diverse, impactful and resourceful. Building a strong network will help me grow both professionally and personally.
There are many ways in which I can leverage my network. I can learn more about an industry/occupation by having conversations with the people in my network. Contacting the second and the third degree would be really helpful if I want to know more about other industries or domains. It would also help me do research on a subject with which I am not familiar with. It can also help me learn more about any potential employer or getting a recommendation for a position I am interested in. While in a job, it can help me build ties with an ongoing or a prospective client. Building a strong and diverse network will help me hone my professional skills. I will get to learn from the diversity of the network that I would have. Having a wide and strong network will help me get feedback on my ideas. I can have constructive feedback from people in my network on the skill set I need to work upon.
Going through the article and the reading and doing the Network Assessment again, I am convinced that I need to work upon building my network much stronger and wider. I will make it a point that I assess my network periodically and use my existing allies on build on the network.
# References
The real way to build a social network by Reid Hoffmann (Fortune Magazine Feb 6,2012 issue)
How to Build Your Network by Brian Uzzi and Shannon Dunlap (HBR Dec 2005)
Network Assessment Exercise – SMU COX School of Business ( http://smubusiness.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3IZoKIKGyNA5eOV)

Building a g enuine relationship with another person depends on at least two abilities. The first is seeing the world from another person's perspective.
Likewise, in relationships it's only when you put yourself in the other person's shoes that you begin to develop an honest connection
The second ability is being able to think about how you can collaborate with and help the other person rather than thinking about what you can get
Strengthen your alliance
An alliance is always an exchange, but not a transactional one. A transactional relationship is when your accountant files your tax returns and you pay him for his time.

The diversity of weak ties

Weak ties in a career context were formally researched in 1973, when sociologist Mark Granovetter asked a random sample of professionals how they had found their new job. It turns out that 82% of them found their position through a contact they saw only occasionally or rarely
So when connecting with acquaintances, prioritize diversity in order to broaden the overall reach of your network.

three degrees of separation is what matters. Three degrees is the magic number because when you're introduced to a second- or third-degree connection, at least one person personally knows the origin or target person. That's how trust is preserved.
People's extended networks are frequently larger than they realize, which is why an early tagline at LinkedIn was "Your network is bigger than you think."
Anytime you want to meet a new person in your extended network, you should ask for an introduction. You need to ask, directly and specifically, and you do need to present a compelling reason for why your connection should do it:

The best network: Wide and (selectively) deep
The best professional network is both narrow/deep (allies with whom you collaborate regularly) and wide/ shallow (weak-tie acquaintances who offer fresh information and ideas).

“The currency of real networking is not greed but generosity.” -Keith Ferrazzi

Read more: http://enlightenednetworker.com/homebased-business/networkmarketing/31-killer-quotes-networking-network-marketing/#ixzz2Iuq4bPuJ

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