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Nurture your network

2 min read

Leadership

SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 150,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each Wednesday in our e-newsletter.

Last week we asked: How well do you cultivate and maintain the relationships in your professional network?

  • I respond to check-ins from others but don’t reach out much on my own — 46%
  • I regularly reach out to people to check in and see what they’re up to — 44%
  • I reach out only when I’m looking for a job — 6%
  • I reach out when I can connect two of my connections — 4%

One of the greatest assets you have is your network. In a world where job change is more frequent, business partnerships are more distributed and communication tools are ubiquitous, there’s no excuse not to actively manage your network.

For the 6% of you who only reach out when you’re looking for a job, realize that it comes across poorly that the only time you’re interested in connecting with someone is when you need something.  For the 44% who are actively managing the network, you know it doesn’t take much effort to stay connected with people, and I’ll venture to guess you’ve seen some great relationships grow and opportunities arise as a direct result of those connections.

Start connecting today, folks. You’ll be glad you did.

Mike Figliuolo is managing director of ThoughtLeaders.