How can you build a professional network in IC that leads to more opportunities?

Volunteer Volunteering accomplishes a few things: 1. It helps you network and build relationships with peers and leaders. 2. It helps you build new skills. 3. It helps you showcase your skills and personality in a 'non-threatening' environment. I used volunteering early in my career to practice comms skills I wasn't using in my entry-level days jobs. I used it to build leadership and management skills. I also used it to build relationships - it helps me stay in touch and give back as a senior practitioner but it also allows me to network with potential clients. I credit volunteering with my career success at all phases of my career journey. The one caveat...don't do it to simply add to your resume. Genuinely give it your best.

Get into the habit of serving up value and doing things that nobody else is doing. This way when you decide to attend relevant networking events, you're in a better position to leave memorable and lasting impressions. I avoid coming to networking events with goals. My focus is to come prepared with value to share, and to enter and exit with zero expectations. Reality has a lot of variables and you're not going to jive with everybody.

I hesitate to say what I really think about this proposition. From 1992 to 2000 I worked in IC for a large multinational company, and so I have some experience here. I didn't succeed so you can probably mark my performance against me. Having said that, it seems to me that asking a person to "Identify your goals" is sort of suggesting to them that they remain inauthentic. If you reach out it shouldn't matter what your goals are, surely. Surely putting on one hat for one set of people and another hat for a different set is sort of duplicitous. Then again, duplicity was what I lacked in corporate life, so don't listen to me.

It's significant, I suggest, that the "goals" here are all about what you might get rather than what you might contribute. The success of a professional network in any field should be defined by more than "what you want to achieve" from it - it's a relationship which works both ways. Rather as, in the world of internal communications, the capacity to listen and empathise is usually more powerful than just saying what you want people to hear.

My contribution on this point relates to what I said on point "1". You have to be authentic. You can't "bung on" virtue on one platform and dismiss it on another, people will find you out and they WILL judge because that's what people do. They judge. It's part of the species behaviour that got us here. We assess evidence and make up our minds, we do NOT just accept what one person says to us on one occasion. Community building isn't like a management retreat where you have to suck up the "message" to be regurgitated for the rest of the year. It's hard.

I will take LinkedIn as an example simply because I use the platform a lot. Dedicate time during your day to actively engage with your network - comment on posts, share your experience, offer help and provide feedback. Share professional posts and try to start interesting conversations. Be genuine and try to help your network benefit and develop from your experience and interests. Be proactive but not pushy.

I just answered this in point "2". See above. Authenticity is hard but it's the only thing that'll work. If you can't make authenticity part of your daily routine then do something different with your life. Don't be afraid to fail, you CAN come back. Alienate toxic people if you need to but be yourself.

Don't just ask for introductions, recommendations, and referrals. Make recommendations and referrals, and above all, make tons of introductions. Connecting the people in your network can be life-changing for them and for you. Take the initiative.

Nurturing relationships should not be viewed as a chore. Many Internal Comms professionals enjoy good conversations, and if you view networking as a exciting opportunity to share ideas, then it simply becomes a very enjoyable part of the day!

No way to nurture if you can't be authentic because nothing worth nurturing. Give more than you take, and make a point of saying "thank you" for even acknowledgement of your existence. Tiny things can count.