How to create a personal support network

Wealth networks

Wealth consultant, Roger Hamilton suggests that you are likely to have four networks, not all positive.

Hamilton has been an active networker. He created the XL Group as an international network of entrepreneurs and is now a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, founded by former US President Bill Clinton, and the Transformational Leadership Council, founded by Jack Canfield.

Resource network

This is the network that brings you the opportunities, knowledge and financing you need to create value. When starting your network, this is the part that will open the tap to opportunity.

You should look out for the following players:

Opportunists

The people who bring ideas to you. The people who are within particular industries and can feed back what is needed and where, what new opportunities others are finding and leveraging. The people who have more ideas than time and energy to execute.

Advisors

The people who have more wisdom and knowledge than you. Including mentors and role models, these people are willing to give you advice at times from their experience, and this advice is valuable, as whatever mistakes you will make, they have already made.

Financiers

The people who can help to finance your ventures and projects. Whether they are fellow entrepreneurs, bankers, angel investors, venture capitalists or simply wealth creators with a desire to share in your success, these people will fund you in return for the right value.

Support network

This network provides the strength to your wealth creation. The people in this network provide moral and practical support, and open doors to new people and opportunities.

Peers

The fellow wealth creators that you look up to. People with high standards that you can learn from, and that can learn from you. This peer group will give you additional confidence that you are on the right path, and they find your feedback alone is enough return for their feedback.

Advocates

These people are happy to support you, and will actively make connections on your behalf. If you need to find a person or resource, you will work with your advocates to do so.

Supporters

Often you may put family members and friends in this category. The people who will not be involved in any wealth creation, but who will actively give you moral support.

Production network

This network provides you with the production resource to execute your business venture or investment project, freeing your time to pursue and develop new opportunities.

Managers

Your direct reports who you charge with the day-to-day operational management of your business or project. The people with the ability to run and manage future businesses and projects for you.

Team

The rest of the team, answering to your managers.

Suppliers

Who else provides you with resources, outside your own organisation?

Poverty network

This network is really important. These are most likely people from your past or whom you have inherited, or otherwise collected. They might be people who still believe you are the person you once were, who see your progress as threatening to their model of the world or who feel challenged by you proving something they could do but fear.

Doomsayers

The people who predict that it will all go wrong, no point in trying because it will end in disaster.

Doubters

These are the people who lack confidence in you and doubt whether you will be able to succeed.

Distractors

These are the people who distract you from your goal. They keep coming up with new ideas and might want to involve you in other projects or activities at work, home or socially. They interrupt your work; perhaps they just like talking.

Passengers

These people can be enthusiastic supporters, but don’t actually contribute anything, happy to be involved as long as others do the work.

Exercise

Your first task it to evaluate your current network. Roger Hamilton’s classification would be a good place to start. How well supported are you in terms of a resource network, a support network and a production network? How effective are they in providing for your needs, both now and in the future?

Now identify people and organisations that could help you strengthen your networks.

Resource network

Review your advisors, opportunists and financiers.

·? Who do you already know – how well are they supporting you?

·? What types of people and organisations would strengthen this network?

?·? Who do you already know who could help you?

?·? Where might you find others?

·? What steps are you going to take to strengthen this network?

?Support network

Review your advocates, peers and supporters.

·? Who do you already know – how well are they supporting you?

·? What types of people and organisations would strengthen this network?

·? Who do you already know who could help you?

·? Where might you find others??

·? What steps are you going to take to strengthen this network?

Production network

Review your managers, team and suppliers.

·? Who are you already working with – how well are they supporting you?

·? What types of people and organisations would strengthen this network?

·? Who do you already know who could help you?

·? Where might you find others??

·? What steps are you going to take to strengthen this network?

Poverty network

Now, time to review your poverty network!!! Be honest.

You won’t need to drop these relationships – they might be family or good friends. But by recognising any negative contributions they make to your life you will become conscious of their language and behaviours.

In many cases, it will be best to withdraw from their company and replace them with more positive people.

·? Who are your doomsayers, doubters, passengers and distractors?

·? How can you become immune to their effect on you?

·? Who can you drop?

·? Who can you replace?

·? What practical steps are you going to take to rebalance this network?

Action plan

Summarise the actions you are going to take?

·? Next week

·? Next month

·? Next quarter

Outcome

Now describe briefly what will be the result of having re-built your support networks.

The author

Richard Winfield is the author of The New Directors Handbook, creator of The Essential Directorship and Strategic Company Secretary masterclasses and curator of the CPD 2.0 Professional programme, which provides a stream of governance alerts and management insights. He teaches corporate governance to directors, boards and corporate secretaries and provides personal career coaching and assistance in preparing effective job applications, supported by comprehensive online assessments. Clients approach Richard to help bring structure and clarity to their lives.