Power of Networking: How the Rich Do It

“To get a job in your 50s, maintain friendships in your 40s” – That was the headline of a New York Times piece that grabbed my attention. Spot on.

It reminded me of a conversation last Sunday outside, in balmy weather, with Bobbie, a woman entrepreneur in her early 60s who manages social media for a top fashion designer. We were talking about networking — how crucial it is to use who you do know to get to who you don’t know.

“It’s so true,” she told me. “It’s ALL about networking.”

I knew I had to have a conversation with my fellow friends and revisit the topic of my second book, The Millionaire Zone (Hyperion).

Don’t be fooled by the title. The crux of the book, based on national research, confirms something I saw during my days in Silicon Valley, where people like major venture capitalists, founders of PayPal and LinkedIn, and employees of those very companies were hobnobbing and launching new businesses.  What I discovered, in short, is that the wealthy actually use their networks more effectively than everyone else to get ahead. And by doing so, they succeeded at, essentially, turning their phonebooks (so to speak) into a bigger checkbook — whether through a job, an investment opportunity or a business deal.

OK, this sounds really basic, you may be thinking. 

The rich know more people. Of course they can use their networks more! 

But for many of them, it wasn’t always that way. The strange fact is that many of us — yours truly included —didn’t come from wealthy upbringings nor did Daddy have an influential network to tap.

Let me elaborate with five key points, drawing from my research in the book.

• Don’t Go It Alone — Despite what we read about, financially successful people – from Oprah to Bill Gates to teen pop stars – didn’t go it alone. They had people around them, oftentimes one or two key people. If you’ve been told, “Pull yourself up by the bootstraps, and you’ll succeed,” you know that it’s pretty tough to do it all by yourself. My own experience and research tells me that that traditional view of how people got rich — going it alone or “individualism,” as I call it — just isn’t true.
• Fear Will Hold You Back — When we think we have to go it alone, we often get fearful and anxious. This can be the case with investing, starting a business, or getting climbing the corporate ladder. This view can prevent us from really being in the zone, as I call it: open to people, to giving back, to building real, lasting relationships. For example, my research found that 53% of Americans wanted to start a business, but they felt anxious about venturing out on their own. Why? Fear. Being alone. Failing. But yet, 56% said they would be less fearful if they could learn to use the people and organizations around them to help them succeed. In other words, effective networking.
• Millionaires Leverage their Networks Better — The research found that millionaires actually do tap into their networks more effectively. This isn’t about just going to some fancy club that costs $50,000 a year to hang-out with other ultra-rich people. No, the wealthy use the people, places and resources around them. Think of your business contacts or relationships, your friends or family members, your co-workers. What about your alma mater, gym, professional association or even your place of worship or other spiritual outlet? The graph here shows that millionaires benefitted tremendously from all of these elements right in their network – yet oftentimes we forget we have them... right at our fingertips.

• Moving Outside Your Comfort Zone — You’ve probably heard this before, but it’s true: to get ahead, you often have to try something new or stretch yourself. It could be packing up to move somewhere for a promotion or a new job or taking the risk of leaving an existing job. Going outside your comfort zone can be a real fear, and I’ve seen how this can especially hinder women. But nearly 60% of millionaires felt that they, too, had to move outside their comfort zone to reach that critical point.
• Start with Your Home Zone — To get where you want to go, you often just need to turn to what I call in the book your “home zone.” This is where the people, places and resources you’re most familiar with ‘live’ – where you should first turn. I share so many examples in the book of people who, by cultivating their home zone and their networks, found them there with open arms when they needed them most – when, for example, Desma Coleman wanted to launch a business.

Let me return to my conversation with Bobbie: she told me she needs to pare back from her many work roles. The one she’s keeping? Her consulting job with the designer. And how did she get that gig? It was right in her home zone. “She’s a good friend,” she told me. 

So if you’re wondering how to land that next job, launch that business, or risk that corporate move, pause for a moment and really think about how you can leverage your network. The answer is often right in your own network, starting with your home zone.

Jennifer Openshaw is a nationally known financial leader and innovator, Dow Jones MarketWatch columnist, and author of three books, including The Millionaire Zone.