Don't Fear Professional Networking! Instead, Here's How to Make It Work For You

This is the week you're going to overcome your fear, discomfort, or dread of professional networking.

You probably have limiting beliefs about how bad you are at networking, e.g. "I can't sell myself," or "I don't know what to say, " or "I feel foolish," or "I don't want to keep calling people up. It's awkward." You know it’s irrational, but it feels very real.

The Underlying Truth:

You feel awkward or are afraid of the process because you don't have a clear sense of your value proposition. If you were clear about what you do, how useful your work is, what you solve for, and what you deliver, you wouldn't feel bad about presenting yourself.

If you have a clear sense of your value proposition, you actually never have to "sell yourself." You're always simply sharing what you know well, what you love to do, and what's valuable. No selling or persuading involved. Professional networking isn't about persuading; it's about finding people you like and who like you, with whom you have common interests and a sense of rapport.

A Mindset Shift - Especially in Mid-Career

Economic change and uncertainty are creating more volatility and polarization in the career marketplace. While this is happening across all generations in the workforce, it’s making more of an impact on mid-career professionals.

A landmark study by Pro-Publica and the Urban Institute found that over 50% of workers over 50 will lose their jobs.

This is why professional networking is so important and why it is critical to overcome any hesitation you may have around putting it to work for you.

Inaction Is Not a Plan

Doing your job well is not enough. You can’t afford to become isolated in your company, surrounded by your team, or insulated by the structures and culture around you. As many leaders are finding out every day, strong performance reviews and coworker respect won’t protect them from layoffs.

You need regular and durable connections with the outside world to better understand what’s happening in your industry (and even in your own company). You need to connect with the resources and individuals who can alert you to opportunities and trends, help you stay current, and think strategically.

Connection Creates Options

Just think: if you’re out of the loop, your confidence will take a hit. If you don’t know what’s happening or how to access the resources you need (e.g., the correct professional development strategy), you’ll feel more insecure and vulnerable to potential disruptions. At more senior levels, you won’t find your next job through posted positions. You need access to the “hidden job market,” where jobs on your level are filled through referrals.

The Problem Isn’t Networking; It’s Your Profile

The reason you feel uncomfortable, awkward, and afraid to network isn’t because you don’t like professional networking. It’s because you don’t have a clear sense of your professional identity. If you can’t easily answer the question, “So! Tell me about yourself,” of course, you’re going to be reluctant to network.

Your LinkedIn profile is more than a bio and more than a resume. It’s the key and the gateway to defining who you are and the professional value proposition that you deliver in your work. If you’ve got that dialed in, you may be surprised by how upbeat (maybe even excited) you feel about sharing that value with a prospective colleague, not to mention a recruiter or hiring manager.

Your LinkedIn Profile - Steps One & Two

First, your Headline is not your job title or company affiliation. It is a statement of the three or four most leveraged roles that you play in your profession.

Second, your About section is not your bio. It is a mission statement that defines who you are, why you do what you do, and where you want to go in your career. It’s a “call to conversation” meant to attract like-minded colleagues who appreciate your motivation and your values, and who are thus inclined to trust you because they feel like they understand you.

Selling is never about persuading. Any sales professional will tell you that sales is about educating the customer so that they can make their own decision. This approach to your LinkedIn profile educates your prospective connections. It goes deeper than your resume to give them the context behind the work that you do. It cuts through the corporate speak and resume speak that depersonalizes how we talk about ourselves.

So before you venture into reconnecting with colleagues or introducing yourself to new ones, spend some time revisiting, revising, and reinvigorating your LinkedIn profile with the values and the purpose that you bring to work with you every day. If you’re stuck, work with a trusted friend or colleague (or coach!) to dig deeper and tell your best career story.

For more insights into drafting a compelling LinkedIn profile, check out this article HERE, and for a swipe file that includes a dozen well-crafted LinkedIn Headlines and About sections, click HERE.

Slow and Steady Confident Wins the Race

Building your network is an iterative process. You don’t just decide overnight to manifest a fully functional professional network. It takes time and lots of trial and error. Take a week or two to focus on your profile. Use the “Post-its Process” I outline in the article linked above to brainstorm your Headline, and then follow the story structure to draft your About section. Get feedback from friends and colleagues, and keep coming back to your draft every few days for some fresh perspective.

But don’t put off publishing it to your profile page! You can (and should) continue to revise it and evolve it over time to reflect the feedback you receive from engaging with your network.

Pro tip: Make sure your LinkedIn settings are set to prevent others from being alerted when you make profile changes.

(Me->Settings & Privacy->Visability->Visibility of your LinkedIn activity->Share job changes, education changes, and work anniversaries from profile->Share key profile updates: OFF)

Success Secret: Start Small

Now you’re ready, at last, to start reaching out.

Reconnect with a handful of colleagues you’ve lost touch with or haven’t kept up with over the past 5-10 years. Tell them you’ve made a commitment to yourself to be better at professional networking, and they are at the top of your list. You might be surprised how effortless this is. Just one new person per week will build momentum. Pretty soon, you’ll be naturally contacting more people and seeing opportunities at work and in your larger professional community to make more connections.

Look for in-person or virtual events that are specific to your area of expertise. You want to foster opportunities for relevant conversations where you can be useful. Attending big, general glad-handing, business-card-collecting events is a waste of time.

But be proactive: don’t wait for the email to hit your inbox. Research events in your area or online, sign up, and show up! Challenge yourself to attend at least one event every month.

Always Be Giving

One of the downfalls of networking is being perceived as a taker - someone who only calls when they need a favor or an introduction. Don’t be that person. Instead, be a giver. When you contact one of your connections, 80% of your engagement should be to give them something: a piece of information or advice, an article you’ve just read, an introduction to a new colleague, or a new opportunity. After you’ve built up enough goodwill, the remaining 20% of your engagement can be about you and your agenda. Since you’ve been so generous with them, they will likely be more than willing to return the favor.

Be Curious

Adopt a growth mindset. Your purpose in networking is to build a community of like-minded proactive professionals like you who have a common purpose and shared vision for the future of your industry.

The more you look for ways to bring more people into the conversation and find opportunities to fulfill that mission, the more doors will open for you.