The 21st Century Networking Handbook: How to translate insights from network science into success in business

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:


?
21ST CENTURY
NETWORKING
HANDBOOK
How to translate insights from
network science into success
in business
THE

Published in 2014 by Head Resourcing Ltd, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Written and edited by
Scott Torrance & Ross Coverdale
Design and layout by
Ross Coverdale
Illustrations by
Scott Torrance
Downloadable PDF of this white paper is available online at
blog.headresourcing.com

CONTENTS
A look back at network science
A key principle for results
A system for success
What’s your why?
Desired outcomes
What does success look
like to you?
Building a networking habit
Consistency is key
Becoming a magnet
Kick-start your networking
1.
INTRODUCTION
2.
LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS
3.
MINDSET
Everyday actions
(Re)Designing your network
Maintaining your network
Where can you start?
Diversity
Expanding your network
4.
SMALL, SMART CHOICES
5.
CONSISTENT ACTIVITY
Give & take
The community model

WWW.HEADRESOURCING.COM
4
As the business world becomes ever more interconnected, social networks
are affecting more areas of business.
It doesn’t matter what your goals are in business. You could want to...
Find a solution to a problem
Hit sales targets
Become CEO of your company
Even set up your own business
The quality of your network – that is the fabric of your personal
relationships – will play an increasingly important role in your success.
In this white paper we will outline a system to help you:
PROACTIVELY
BUILD A
PURPOSEFUL
NETWORK
How do you make your network work for you? Read on...
INTRODUCTION
You can’t wait
until a need
arises to start
to achieve
specific goals

5
As we covered in our last white paper, A Guide to 21st Century Networking,
there is a lot that science knows about networking that is generally
ignored by business.
A social network is simply a network
where the nodes are people and
organisations that are connected
by formal, informal, logical or
emotional links.
We looked at how different types of
relationships are formed, and how
your social capital is connected to
your position within a community.
To recap, this diagram shows how different clusters of people can be
connected, and how people can influence others depending on their place
in their network:
A LOOK BACK AT NETWORK SCIENCE
BROKERS
(connecting clusters)
CLOSURE
(building trust
within a cluster)
loosely
connected
densely
connected
clusters
HOW CAN WE TAKE OUR INSIGHTS FROM NETWORK SCIENCE
AND TRANSLATE THIS KNOWLEDGE INTO RESULTS?

6
A KEY PRINCIPLE FOR RESULTS
In order to find success through networking there is one very important
concept that should sit at the back of your mind thoughout every step in the
planning and execution of your networking strategy.
The compound effect is a principle – developed by publisher and author
Darren Hardy – that maintains that success is dictated by the impact of small,
everyday actions, and that these actions (or inactions) are either moving you
towards or away from your goals.
If you were to have a heart attack after your first hamburger you’d change
your behaviour immediately – but that’s not how it works!
It is the small decisions we make, that don’t seem to have much of an impact
in the moment, when compounded over time result in transformational
change.
This idea can transform your networking. It is simple, but it isn’t easy.
It’s not easy because it involves hard work and the results aren’t immediate.
THE COMPOUND EFFECT
RESULTS
TIME

7
A SYSTEM FOR SUCCESS
CONSISTENT
ACTIVITY
HABITS
ACTIONS
SMALL, SMART
CHOICES
ATTITUDE
MINDSET
+
+
=
What kind of
networker are you?
Will your decisions move
you towards or away
from your goals?
Build momentum so your
hard work pays off!
In this white paper we will outline a step-by-step system that will help
shape your networking strategy. Following these steps will help you create
the conditions for your network to grow in a way that works for you.

8
LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS
What’s your
Why?
Desired
outcomes
Goals
The
community
model

9
WHAT’S YOUR WHY?
Before we get started on the how or what, we need to look at the why.
We need to rethink our idea of what networking is and move beyond the
negative connotations of it being something that only people in sales do.
Instead, think of it as creating a fabric of personal contacts who you can
mutually provide support and share information or resources with.
If you’re going to start crafting a networking strategy, the why needs to be
specific to you.
FOCUS ON YOUR PURPOSE
Keeping your focus on your why is easy to do, but it is also easy to not do.
When you are busy and tired and following through on all the actions you
set out feels like the last thing you want to do, it is your why that will keep
you focused. It should be something that really excites you – it should tap
into your heart and soul.
All the theory and action is meaningless until you nail the purpose behind
your planning.
“He who has a why to live for can
bear almost any how.”
Nietzsche
A DREAM JOB
PURPOSE
IMPACT
SOCIAL CHANGE

10
DESIRED OUTCOMES
Too often people spend time networking without any real idea of what
they want to achieve and therefore cannot say whether they’ve achieved
success or not.
HOW DO WE MEASURE SUCCESS IN NETWORKING?
IT’S ABOUT
LEVERAGING YOUR NETWORK
TO
OF YOUR NETWORK. SIZE
IT’S NOT ABOUT THE
GET
THINGS
DONE.

Business development
Career development
Personal development
Delivering a project
Introducing an innovative idea into
the business
A business owner looking to expand
their business (new business,
mergers + acquisitions)
Securing a promotion
Accessing resources from
across the business
Landing your dream job
Gaining access to
mentors and advisors
A sales person looking to
uncover new opportunities
Who do you need to
talk to?
WHAT COULD THOSE THINGS BE FOR YOU?
PICK ONE AREA TO FOCUS ON.

11
WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE TO YOU?
We’ve got to start breaking it down into specific goals – have a think about:
– What GOAL do you want to achieve?
– What REASON do you have to want to achieve it?
– Which PEOPLE do you need to connect with?
– WHERE can you find them?
• Online / offline
• Internal / external
• Super hubs (on and offline places or communities where
people congregate)
– WHAT WILL YOU DO to form and maintain these networks?
EXAMPLE:
I will achieve GOAL to allow me to REASON .
To do this I will need to connect with:
HERE
HERE
who can
to form, strengthen, and maintain these relationships?
WHAT WILL YOU DO?
+ PEOPLE
PEOPLE
who can

12
Most people’s networks grow and evolve naturally over time without much
thought. This is okay, to an extent, but the problem is that it can limit the
value of the network as well as place undue stress on the individual.
Understanding a few simple principles about the structure and nature of
networks can help you to lay down strong foundations upon which to build
a robust system.
A SHIFT IN THINKING (AND DOING)
One of the biggest obstacles to the growth of
a network is people placing themselves at the
centre of theirs.
If you make a point of connecting everyone in
your network, when there is value in doing so,
you will facilitate turning your network (in your
mind as well as in reality) into a community
model.
It gets interesting when you see how the
connections in your network are linked, or not, as
the case may be.
By making this shift you will appreciate the value
in asking for favours, advice or introductions
not just for yourself but for the benefit of your
network community.
Spread the love!
Community
Shift in
ACTION
Hub and Spoke
THE COMMUNITY MODEL

ATTITUDE MINDSET
IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR THINKING:
+
+
=
CONSISTENT ACTIVITY
HABITS
ACTIONS

15
MINDSET: GIVE & TAKE
“According to conventional wisdom, highly
successful people have three things in common:
motivation, ability, and opportunity. If we
want to succeed, we need a combination of
hard work, talent, and luck. [But there is] a
fourth ingredient, one that’s critical but often
neglected: success depends heavily on how we
approach our interactions with other people.”
Give and Take (Grant, 2013)
While being organised and rethinking the way your network is constructed,
to be a successful networker there are also considerations to make around
your mindset.
In Adam Grant’s book Give and Take, the author describes three
characteristics that define how people interact with others.
While the distinction between these
characteristics are more fluid than set in
stone, there is a simple framework that
sits at the core of these three mindsets...
Adam Grant

16
• Driven by a desire
to help others and
create success for
the community
• Give more than they
get in return
• Strive for equal, fair
exchanges between
people and networks
• These people make
great brokers, making
introductions and
leveraging
relationships
• See the world as a
competitve place
(dog-eat-dog)
• Only help others
if there is a direct
benefit to themselves
TAKERS
Takers simply see the world as a competitive place. To a taker, life is a
ruthless game where you take everything you want, helping others only if
the personal benefit of doing so outweighs the cost.
GIVERS
Givers are driven by the desire to help others and create success for the
group. The keystone trait of the giver is that in most transactions they give
far more than they get.
MATCHERS
Somewhere in between givers and takers, matchers strive for equal, fair
exchanges with others. The matcher’s goal in their negotiations is being
fair and equitable to all parties, not just one. How much we give or take
is shaped by who we interact with. In addition to group pressure, another
factor affecting our generosity is how much of ourselves we see in the
other person: the more similar he or she is, the more likely we are to give.

17
When you adjust your mindset accordingly, it can result in significant
improvements in the quality and depth of your relationships.
Many believe that when it comes to achieving professional success,
taking is more effective than giving. This is particularly true in traditionally
cutthroat professions like business and politics. Nevertheless, takers
and matchers all can — and do — achieve success, but there’s something
distinctive that happens when givers succeed: it spreads and cascades.
Successful givers cultivate and use their vast networks to benefit others
as well as themselves. Givers see potential in everyone they meet, making
them the go-to people for finding and nurturing talent. A key step in
developing a successful networking strategy is to take an honest look at
your actions, and to start making a shift to becoming more of a giver.
In the book Give and Take, Adam Grant gives the examples
of George Meyer, Emmy Award-winning writer for The
Simpsons, is a classic example of a ‘giver’. Meyer routinely
encouraged other writers to use his ideas without asking
for personal credit. So, although he helped shape over 300
episodes of The Simpsons, he is only credited for 12.
What mattered more to him than keeping count of personal
credit was seeing the show succeed.
Source: Give and Take (Grant, 2013)
“It is amazing what you can accomplish if
you do not care who gets the credit.”
Harry S. Truman

+
+
=
CONSISTENT ACTIVITY
HABITSACTIONS SMALL, SMART CHOICES
ATTITUDE
MINDSET
NOW ONTO STEP 2:

19
(RE)DESIGNING YOUR NETWORK
As we mentioned earlier, a lot of people still think of their network as one
big cluster:
Shift in
THINKING
In reality it’s a set of interconnected clusters – where different people are
linked via a mix of strong and weak ties.
EVERYDAY ACTIONS
It’s been mentioned a couple of times already, but it’s really important
to remember:
In today’s increasingly connected world, social media and other software
is making it much easier to do this at scale, offering more options for
delivering value and helping you make the most of your networking time.
VALUE
THE #1 PRINCIPLE IS
DELIVERING
IN EVERY ENGAGEMENT

20
But what does this mean for you? This awareness will help you to better
position yourself with your network to create more value (as you’ll see later
on in this handbook).
HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR
NETWORKS ORGANISED?
As your network grows it will become messy and without attention it
could become hard to manage. By segmenting your network, and placing
everyone you meet into the relevant segment, you will more easily
understand how your network is put together. But more importantly, this
clarity will mean you don’t have to rely on your own fallable memory, so in
theory you should miss out on less potential opportunities to add value.
Once you have a solid foundation in place there’s one thing you can do to
deepen and scale your relationships on an ongoing basis – bring a bit of
structure and order to the activity.
SETTING UP YOUR SEGMENTS
Keep it simple to start with – use no more than 5 segments.
Segmenting will make your follow-up and continued engagement easier
as you’ll be better able to share relevant ideas and make purposeful
connections rather than the typical ad hoc, top of mind approach.
When choosing your segments, make sure they are aligned with your goals
and desired outcomes. There’s no harm in trying a few different ways
before settling on a way that works for you.

21
After every meeting or online interaction, place people into the relevant
segment.
Once you have pools of connections in their relevant segments, you can
then break these segments down even further by filtering – this is where
you can look at things like their location, industry or function, and their
shared interests. This will give you clarity, and will remove the ‘noise’ from
what could be an overcrowded mass of connections.
Tools to help you:
Social Media
CRM Solutions
Relationship management
software
EXPANDING
YOUR NETWORK
MAINTAINING
YOUR NETWORK
Traditional networking
advice focuses too much
on this side
Strengthen
your existing
relationships
WHERE IS YOUR ATTENTION FOCUSED?
How you act and the choices you make every day will determine the level
of success you will have with your network – are your actions moving you
towards your goals or further away from them?
An important aspect to think about is having balance – you need to
remember your existing network and not put too much weight on finding
new people, ideas and opportunities.

22
If you work in an organisation, this also applies to you – make sure you are
leveraging your internal connections as well as seeking external support.
ACTIONS
Set up relevant segments using your social/CRM tools
Try to connect everyone in your network. Set yourself a goal of
introducing a set number of people every month.
INTERNAL EXTERNAL
Look at the informal
hierarchies that exist
within your company – see
how things get done!
Don’t forget about the
value in your external
connections
MAINTAINING YOUR NETWORK
You can guarantee that there are people within your network who are
out there having conversations with your prospective customers about
opportunities that would be a great fit for you, but they are not referring
them your way. Is it something you said? No, it’s something you didn’t say
– you didn’t come to mind during the conversations simply because it has
been so long since they’ve heard from you that they completely forgot,
missing the opportunity to join the dots.
Attention is a finite resource – it’s your job to command the greatest share
of it within your network so that the next time they have the conversation
your name comes straight to mind. It’s your intention to stay on the radar of
your network – don’t underestimate the importance of being top of mind.
STRONG AND WEAK TIES
As your activity ramps up it can become more and more difficult to
maintain relationships. We’re all very busy, and relationships are like plants;
they require constant attention to stop them from withering and dying.

23
However, not all relationships need the same amount of attention. When
we understand the structure and nature of social networks and the
distinction between the role that weak and strong ties play, it is easier to
create a strategy for coping with large numbers of connections.
IT’S NOT A CASE OF DEVELOPING EITHER STRONG OR WEAK TIES
You should have a balance of both. Tailoring your actions based on this fact
will help you to maintain existing relationships, while your activity increases
and your network expands.
The thing to remember is that relationships are not fixed; they are fluid and
dynamic, and will change over time and maybe even contextually. It’s also
important not to forget about your existing network; there is a lot of latent
value in these connections – you just have to realise how to make the best
of them.
TOUCH POINTS
Business is all about people and relationships. Face-to-face interaction
will always be the most effective way to build strong relationships, but
you won’t be able to connect with everyone in person. As part of your
relationship building strategy you need to establish touch points; points of
These networks will be larger, more diverse
and spread out geographically, and won’t
require as much effort to maintain as you are
l ooking to provide a different type of support:
• Making introductions
• Sharing information
• Giving professional feedback
Within a network you are looking to
develop closer, deeper relationships:
• The size of the networks are likely
to be smaller
• Sounding boards, advice and support
STRONG TIES
WEAK TIES

24
contact between you and your connections that aim to not only remind
them of you but give you a chance to add value through these interactions.
Face-to-face
Phone calls
Text message
Email
Letters
Brand-led marketing
WHERE CAN YOU START?
It’s likely you’ll already have strong and weak ties in your network; it’s all
about figuring out how to make the best of them.
ADVOCATES
Everyone has their advocates, even if they’re not super-famous or super-connected.
Take a look at those who are closest to you – these are the
people who will have faith in you and will be more likely to help you when
they are called upon.
DORMANT TIES
Your dormant ties are those whose relationships have fizzled out a bit –
you used to know them well but you haven’t heard from them in a while.
These are generally weak ties, but they offer a lot of untapped potential as
there will already be trust in place.
You may have a contact with whom you lost contact with because they
moved jobs into a different industry – these people can offer a wealth of
insight, as well as new opportunities.
IMPACT
TIME

25
ACTIONS
Make a point of reaching out to your top 30 advocates and
commit to contacting one each day for a month with something
that is valuable, relevant, and meaningful to them (don’t just ask
for favours or endoresements!). At the end of the month, you can
start from the top of the list or start afresh.
Pick a problem you are trying to solve and contact one dormant
tie a week to re-connect with – meet them for a coffee or lunch
and chat about your problem.
EXPANDING YOUR NETWORK
Maintaining deep and healthy strong ties with your existing network is
a relatively straightforward thing to do, but expanding your network,
opening up new connections and forming more relationships is a bit more
of an art than a science.
It is not so much about simply increasing the number of people you are
connected to, but rather increasing the number of valuable relationships
within your network. Ultimately you need to meet more people, but how
do you identify people to connect with, and how do you facilitate the
connection?
INTERESTING PERSON FUND
Whether it’s networking events and conferences, or coffees and lunches,
these things require (usually a little) cash, as well as time. This is where
the interesting person fund comes in. Put aside a set amount of money
every month that is dedicated to meeting new people – think of it as an
investment in your personal development.
Same goes for your diary – we’re all busy, but try to keep some time free at
least once every couple of weeks for expanding your network.

26
DIVERSITY
As you look for more strategic, innovative areas or for your own personal
development, you need to look to broaden the diversity in your network.
This means pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.
It is likely that a number of people in your network won’t know each
other – think about how these people are connected to you, and how you
can join them up. If you place yourself strategically at the intersection
People are more likely to attach themselves to large
‘nodes’; people, places, or groups where they share
similar mindsets, functions or even problems.
Super hubs form when people with similar
interests, industries, professions or geographies
come together, as they tend to gravitate
towards what they know and
understand. Social media offers
you the chance to tap into and
connect with like-minded people,
on and offline.
SAN
FRANCISCO
SAN
FRANCISCO
BAY
BELMONT
PALO
ALTO
CUPERTINO
SANTA
CLARA
IDENTIFY SUPER HUBS
DIVERSITY
Identify hubs (on and offline)
Spend some time listening
Look for ways to add value to
the community by helping
ACTIONS:
Silicon Valley in California
has become a super hub for
technology and innovation
over the last few decades
thanks to heavy investment
and a wealth of tech talent.
As we covered in our first white paper, every network is made up of
clusters, but new people don’t just join these clusters at random.

27
of clusters of connections, and translate
ideas between connections in order to
help them to see the opportunities that
you see, you will instantly add value.
SERENDIPITY
While it’s still important to be structured
while networking, expanding diversity in
in this way will increase the likelihood of
serendipitous interactions. It’s not about waiting for these happy accidents
to come by you – though you can be open to this – you can deliberately
put yourself in situations where the likelihood of them happening is higher.
“It’s normal to surround
ourselves with similar people
to ourselves… it’s comfortable.
However, the top performers
look to extend their
abilities; to build networks
that challenge them, not
surrounding themselves with
people who know what they
ROB CROSS know with other people.”
Author of ‘Driving Results
Through Social Networks’
IDEAS
In business we like to place things in clearly defined boxes, or ‘silos’. The
problem with this is that by remaining blinkered and keeping walls up
between groups of people we are closing ourselves off to the interesting
conversations, ideas and solutions that could be happening between the
silos. Worst of all for you, is that these conversations may be happening
whether you are aware of them or not.

28
ADDING VALUE
Too often in business, meetings are looked at in a very transactional
manner, where they are only accepted if there is a direct and measurable
benefit to you. In an increasingly connected world, where networks and
the balance of power are constantly shifting, the value to be had from
an engagement may only be realised in three months, a year, or even a
decade later – i.e. the value of the outcome isn’t fixed or even knowable at
the outset.
REMEMBER – IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MINDSET
Be open-minded to the potential opportunities or learnings that you could
gain from a conversation with a complete stranger.
Be generous, and remember to have fun!
Sharing relevant content
Micro-engagements
Make introductions
Ask for favours
Connect with new people
Stay in contact
#1 source of content + info
is your network
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO ADD VALUE?
Attention is a commodity:
A Like, Favourite, Share
or Retweet will go a long way!
Make an effort to
cross-pollinate
Don’t rely on being top
of mind – be proactive!
Connect people and ideas
But not just for yourself!
Leverage your CRM functions
(LinkedIn, Salesforce,
Twitter lists etc.)
Say yes to more
random meetings

+
+
= CONSISTENT ACTIVITY HABITS
ACTIONS
ATTITUDE
MINDSET
AND FINALLY, STEP 3:

30
BUILDING A NETWORKING HABIT
The secret ingredient in all of this is time. These small smart actions must
be repeated consistently, and to do this you need to develop a daily
networking habit.
If you are going to build a habit that you are going to keep (and develop)
over your career, the actions you choose must feel like things you can keep
up over the long-term, and they can’t (or shouldn’t) feel like a burden.
Set aside a small amount of time every day and make
sure it fits into your daily routine. For example, you
could get into the habit of scanning through your
Twitter lists while waiting on your morning coffee.
CONSISTENCY IS KEY
Sales expert and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar told a story of two friends
who came across a water pump that relates perfectly back to business.
It takes a lot of work to get a water pump going, and you have to keep
pumping for the water to rise up from the well and flow from the tap.
If you stop putting the hard work in, all the
water will flow back down to the bottom of
the well and you’ll have to start all over again.
The exact same principle applies to networking.
Too often people wait until they have a need
before taking action, and as soon as they have
achieved their goal, they stop.
If you’ve worked so hard, why stop? An on/
off approach will only make it harder to start
up again, and while it may take time to see
the fruits of your labour, it’s really important to
keep going!

31
At the start of this white paper, we talked about the compound effect –
the principle whereby lots of small actions, when compounded over time,
result in having either a positive or negative effect on your success.
If you follow the system outlined in this white paper – taking up the actions
and building your habit – your network will expand. However, over time
you will start to recognise that people, ideas and opportunities will start to
come to you on a voluntary basis.
Cause and effect are disconnected by space and time – you can’t plan for
it, but you can prepare. Opportunities may come out of the blue, or they
may be from someone you helped out two years ago.
This is why it’s important to focus your attention on the inputs, and
surrender to the results no matter what they are – if you are helpful and
well-connected, eventually the fruits of your labour will come your way.
BECOMING A MAGNET

32
KICK-START YOUR NETWORKING
If you enjoyed reading this white paper, let’s chat!
You can connect with the creators of this white paper on various social
media platforms, or feel free to drop them an email.
If you would like to dive into the network science that
inspired this publication – take a look at the first white paper
in this series: A Guide to 21st Century Networking.
Download your copy here: www.headr.es/NetworkingPDF
Ross Coverdale
@radcoverdale
ross@headresourcing.com
Scott Torrance
@scottorrance
scott@fluxinsights.com

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The 21st Century Networking Handbook: How to translate insights from network science into success in business

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The 21st Century Networking Handbook: How to translate insights from network science into success in business