How networking really works; debunking the myths that prevent professionals from moving ahead

Black Enterprise, Feb, 2005 by Laura Egodigwe

Morrison realized early on that it would take time to build and nurture his relationships, so he has always been methodical in his approach. When he first joined Prudential, he made a list of the few African American executives at the firm, introduced himself, and asked for mentors. "Once they said yes, I had free rein to try to engage them," he says. Morrison cultivated his relationship with each executive through breakfasts and lunches, e-mails, and phone calls--all while continuing to widen his circle at corporate meetings and other events. He would prepare questions to ask the executives about the challenges of working at the company and how they had become successful. "I wanted them to give me specific advice around something," he says. "They were all very open."

Morrison later expanded his initial list by asking those executives to recommend other influential employees and officers at the company. He would solicit specific information about backgrounds, perception, likes, and dislikes--useful information that would help him begin the process again. "By the third time they'd seen me, they'd remember who I was." When Morrison arrived at Cox, a major media and automotive services company, in 2002, he used the same strategies that worked for him at Prudential. He made a list of "key influencers" he might not see regularly in his day-to-day activities, which included senior executives and those on whom an executive might rely. "Depending on the individual, I have them on a monthly lunch schedule or a quarterly lunch schedule," he says. Morrison also maintains contacts outside the firm. Compiling a list of CIOs at other Atlanta companies, he has created an informal group that meets several times a year for lunch to exchange experiences.

MYTH #4: ONLY PEOPLE WITHIN YOUR PROFESSIONAL OR SOCIAL GROUP CAN HELP YOU

If you subscribe to this belief, you may already have missed opportunities coming from unexpected places. Those looking for a job or promotion often focus only on hiring managers and executives above their level. But experts say employees should network sideways and down, as well as up. "You just never know where information is going to come from," notes Larry Hollins of the Hollins Group, an employment recruitment company with offices in Chicago, Atlanta, and New York. In addition, you never know where a former colleague may eventually end up in his or her career.

Lance Coachman, CEO of EXI Inc., an Atlanta-based executive recruitment firm, says many people make the mistake of discounting those whom they consider below their professional level. "Don't ever blow off the secretaries," he advises. "They are the greatest source of information of any company." They also handle the bulk of inter- and intraoffice communications. "Some know the whole historical hierarchy of upper management." When Coachman started his firm, his best sources of information were a secretary and a shoeshine man in a corporate building in Atlanta, with whom he would chat while he was having his shoes shined. In their conversations, Coachman learned when companies were acquiring new divisions and closing others. "They assumed he didn't understand what they were talking about," Coachman says of the executives, "and I didn't assume he didn't."