Do you have a Network Perspective? The Importance of Connection.

There are never a shortage of opportunities to meet people, establish new contacts or nurture and maintain existing networks. Certainly on The Bickley Blog, we frequently share a large number of great events being organised by and held for women in leadership each month.

Most of us know that developing relationships is important professionally. We often hear the phrase "it's not what you know, it's who you know"... that gets things done, opens the door to that job you were looking for...

But do you have a Network Perspective?

A recently released paper from The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) - Developing Network Perspective - might reveal the answer. 

According to CCL, someone with a network perspective is able to look beyond a formal organisational chart or formal titles. They can see and understand the significance of the informal and invisible structures that support the formal organisation.

They understand the importance of relationships and are aware that often the real influencers are those without the senior title.

They understand that the key to success is that "everything is, or will be, connected" (CCL 2013).

Why is having a Network Perspective important? There are seven key reasons:

1. Connections matter - connections provide opportunities and create constraints.
2. Work often happens through informal channels - particularly in flat, team-based and agile work environments
3. Leadership occurs through relationships
4. Successful leaders develop networks of strong, diverse relationships - purposeful (strategic) and authentic networking is the key
5. Network knowledge is an asset in change efforts - this is critical in cultural transformation
6. Innovation networks can be identified and supported
7. The most important challenges leaders face today are interdependent - complex challenges are best address by groups, working collaboratively, not by indiviudals in isolation.

As a leader, how can you develop a this perspective? How do you get it if you don't have it?

1. To begin with, improve your understanding of how your organisation really works. How does  information flow? Who are the influential people?
2. Understand and strengthen your personal network. Is yours a network of convenience or have you built it with purpose?
3. Finally, build connections with those who offer "support, energy, information, feedback and diverse and challenging viewpoints?" (CCL 2013)

Of course, this perspective extends beyond your individual workplace, and into your broader industry, into the social and political realm. 

We challenge you to think about this before your next function! What shape is your network in?  Which relationships do you need to establish and nurture to achieve your plans and goals? Who are the key influencers in your space?

Drop us a line by email or facebook, or leave a comment below to let us know how you went.

To read the full paper on Developing a Network Perspective, visit the CCL webpage: http://www.ccl.org/leadership/pdf/research/developingNetworkPerspective.pdf

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Out on the Town - Reflections from a Conferencing Novice: the ACERE/DIANA Conference

At the Bickley Blog, we often post details of upcoming conferences in the worlds of leadership and gender research. Many of you may wonder about the benefits of conferencing - what comes from taking the time to develop an abstract or paper for a conference (which always seem to be due when you are at your busiest!), of putting your ideas "out there" in the public arena for comment and critique, or of attending networking events to meet other people in your area of interest?

This week, we thank Ali Sumner for her guest post - she offers a personal reflection on her recent attendance at the ACERE-Diana conference held in Perth, Western Australia in January 2012.  For further information on the conference, see a past BB post here.

About Ali
Ali has a background in teaching, community development and marketing.  She completed her Masters of Leadership and Management in 2004 while working at the Department of Education and Training in Perth, Western Australia, in the area of professional learning and development. In 2006, she became the inaugural CEO of the POWA Institute, WA's not for profit institute for new thinking, established in alliance with the not-for-profit de Bono Institute (Australia). Ali is currently completing a PhD, investigating what happens in the area of Complexity Leadership when work teams use Edward de Bono's thinking tools.

Reflections from a Conferencing Novice...
After five years of part-time study as a PhD student at the Curtin Graduate School of Business, I had grown accustomed to the solitary nature of my research. Encouraged by my supervisors I had become reasonably confident that somehow, sometime, in someway, my obscure area of research would make a contribution to knowledge.

Then the unexpected opportunity to present a paper at an international conference emerged out of nowhere, the ACERE-Diana 2012 Conference was coming to Perth. ACERE is the Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship Research Exchange and the Diana Project being the world's leading conference on women's entrepreneurship.

On a steaming hot day in February, I found myself standing in front of a room full of strangers ready to deliver my first academic paper at an international academic conference. Over the following four days I experienced what it is like to go from intellectual solitary confinement to a playground of ideas I was listened to, encouraged, taken seriously, challenged, argued with and ignored... all at the same time.

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This particular conference was co-hosted by the Diana Project and this gave me the opportunity to meet academic women from countries around the world.  My reflections as a novice conference goer are coloured by the memory of listening to and talking with these great women. Papers delivered as part of the Diana conference were wide ranging from issues relating to women starting entrepreneurial ventures in their 50's through to gender and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. the glue that bound the papers together however, was the female perspective, women exploring issues of importance to women.

I came away from my first international conference with an understanding of the wonderful work women are doing in the areas of entrepreneurial research and education. I also discovered to my complete surprise that my own obscure area of research is not so obscure at all. A wonderful African American female academic from Rutgers who sat in the front row of my paper presentation assured me that my work was "right on the button", and after several lunch time chats encouraged me to "publish as soon as possible". I came away understanding why conferencing is so important - you make amazing contacts and the encouragement from more established academics makes you feel great!

Do you have a story to share?
If you have attended an event that would be of interest to our readers and would like to share your experience,  please email us at the Bickley Blog, find us on Facebook or tweet us on twitter!

“It’s who you know” - Networks and Sponsors: Savvy ways to get ahead

Networks and sponsors are hot topics in our inbox at the moment and are really reminding us of the importance of other people to our career satisfaction and progress.

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In a recent article "Managing Yourself: A recent article “Managing Yourself: A Smarter Way to Network”, authors Rob Cross and Robert Thomas speak of the importance of networks in helping with career success. Importantly, their research suggests that these networks should have certain features to be effective.  They should be balanced  - with connections that “promote career advancement and those that promote engagement and satisfaction”.  Effective networks are about quality of connection rather than quantity of connection, and should contain relationships that assist in gaining and broadening experience and learning new skills, but also help with finding purpose and balance.  The structure of the network is also key - with diverse relationships that cross hierarchy, organisations, functions and geographical location. 

According to Cross and Thomas, the most satisfied and successful leaders have the following people in their networks:

1. People who provide personal support, such as colleagues who help them get back on track when they’re having a bad day or friends with whom they can just be themselves.
2. People who add a sense of purpose, such as bosses and customers who validate their work, and family members and other stakeholders who show them work has a broader meaning.
3. People who promote their work/life balance, holding them accountable for activities that improve their physical health, mental engagement or spiritual well-being.

Some food for thought - do you have these people in your network? If not, where can you find them?

Earlier this year, a new report “The Sponsor Effect: Breaking Though the Last Glass Ceiling” was released by Sylvia Hewlett and her team at Centre for Work-Life Policy.  The “sponsor” relationship is important to the advancement to upper levels of an organisation and the study found that women do not maximise this relationship - either they underestimate the importance of it, or they fail to cultivate it. Many women in the study felt that getting ahead on who you know is a “dirty tactic” and the way to the top is through hard work.Extending beyond the mentor relationship, sponsors can have a big impact on your career and work satisfaction.

So what do sponsors do? Hewlett’s research found that sponsors:

• Advocate for your next promotion
• Call in favours for you
• Expand your perception of what you can do
• Make connections to senior leaders

And how do you find one?

Connecting with a sponsor can happen through being identified as a “protege” or a high potential, by catching the eye of an executive. However, Hewlett recommends that those aspiring to senior roles should take a proactive approach and identify and actively cultivate a sponsor relationship and routinely “ask for career guidance, feedback and stretch assignments”.

Do you have a sponsor?  If not, is there someone in your organisation that you could cultivate a sponsor relationship with?

Source: "The Relationship You Need to Get Right" - HBR Magazine October 2011
Source: “The Sponsor Effect: Breaking Though the Last Glass Ceiling” - Center for Work-Life Policy