Nurturing Your Network
The power of the sit-down
I often reflect back on the power of one’s network and how that network can inspire, exercise, and rescue you from difficult moments, jobs and life events. As with anything, if you care for your network, it will grow and strengthen. As I remind my graduate students, the importance of mentorship, strong supervisors and a cohort of peers combine to create a stable footing for the growth of a network that will take you into your future.
There are times where I reflect on my network and realize that without them my life would be less interesting as well as probably far less successful. Ultimately I learn more from these interactions than I probably give back. Something that I am constantly balancing.
When I was appointed to the Vice President role, I made a decision to draw intentionally from the experiences of three people in my network that I knew I would benefit from. I reached out to each of them and we met face-to-face so I could pick their brains and their unvarnished opinions. The first person I connected with was my very first Student Affairs supervisor, he was serving as an Associate Dean of Students at the same institution, and he had managed some very difficult issues over his career. His decades of experience leading through these complex scenarios were not what impressed me the most, it was how he was able to seemingly move through with a consistent steadiness.
While it would be inaccurate to state that he never seemed to be overwhelmed by a situation, as a subordinate, he made sure that we were supported throughout, no matter what. I knew that my new role would put my leadership to the test, and he was possibly the best leader I ever worked with. When we met he reminded me that while the word ‘disengage’ can have negative connotations, as a leader, he has been able to disengage from the drama and the politics and do what was right by his team - he led laser focused on achieving the goal.
The next person I met with was someone who had a history of ‘righting the ship’. Good, bad or otherwise, he had made a career of coming into an institution, making quick work of assessing the world of work, the campus climate, and the resources that were available, and aligned the organization not only for the present, but for the future. Some people loved him, and some, not so much, but ultimately he found himself having a knack for making the necessary changes for the organization to flourish.
As a new Vice President inheriting a team of my peers (ah yes, the joy of being an internal candidate), the need for change was clear, but I wasn’t sure how I would assert myself and my strategic vision. This conversation may as well have been called a ‘truth session’ where my colleague helped me make peace with the emotions that often cloud change, and position myself for what mattered - a better future.
Finally, being that I would be assuming my role during a time of change of executive leadership - new president, new CFO, new provost, new, new, new … I had to sit down with someone who had ‘survived’ these executive upheavals, and not just once, but multiple times. The final sit-down was with one such individual who had found herself working alongside new leadership more times than she could count on her two hands. And while she had outlived previous bosses and colleagues, she had also created a stronger sense of her own contribution to the institution. Rather than be considered the ‘historian’ of the college, she was the ‘history teacher’ as with any situation, if we don’t learn from our history poor choices will repeat themselves.
I was reminded recently of the importance of nurturing your network by a mentee of mine who had pulled from his network during a job search. While this is a common practice in life, be sure to tap into your network when you arrive at the next step in your professional journey. There will be individuals who will serve a different role as you continue to advance forward - people who will be your truth tellers, your history teachers and your forever first bosses.