Maintaining Network Warmth: Strategies Explained
In the realm of career success, maintaining a strong professional network is key. Craig Wortmann, a professor at the Kellogg School, emphasises the importance of "keeping your network warm." This approach, Wortmann explains, is about fostering ongoing engagement rather than letting connections go cold.
Wortmann suggests that effectively maintaining a large professional network while minimising time spent requires an active and intentional approach. He advises sending out regular progress reports via email to maintain network connections, customising them to reflect the sender's personality and goals. These reports, he says, should combine the visual aesthetic of social media with the tone of a personal update.
The frequency of progress reports can vary depending on professional status, but Wortmann stresses consistency and brand as crucial for building a strong presence on LinkedIn. He posts three to four times a week on social media, focusing on providing free insights and content.
Social media is powerful due to its scale, but it requires consistency and a focus on showcasing one's unique expertise. Wortmann's method for maintaining his network includes an actual database with notes on each person and where he met them. He believes that keeping network connections warm is important for career success.
When reaching out, it's important to have a specific reason and to offer something in return. Wortmann used to dedicate time to calling three to five contacts each week as part of his "old school" approach. He also suggests treating network maintenance like a discipline, comparing it to working out and eating right.
Wortmann offers three approaches to keeping a network warm: old-school phone calls and notes, robust social-media activity, and regular updates to a broader network. He advises testing each approach for a month or two to find what fits one's personality and lifestyle.
Key ideas inferred from Wortmann and related leadership insights include making networking an active process, focusing on quality over quantity, using empathy and clear values, and strategic check-ins. These strategies emphasise targeted, empathetic, and purposeful engagement with your network that leverages your experience and values to maintain strong professional ties efficiently and effectively.
In essence, Wortmann advocates for a strategic, personalised, and ongoing approach to networking that can significantly impact long-term career success. For more precise step-by-step strategies directly from Wortmann’s work, consulting his detailed writings or talks on leadership and networking would be beneficial.
- In the realm of career success, technology plays a significant role in maintaining a large professional network by enabling frequent and personalized updates through platforms like social media and email, as suggested by Craig Wortmann.
- Wortmann emphasizes the importance of incorporating education-and-self-development into career development by providing free insights and valuable content on business and finance through his social media posts.
- Effective career-development involves a strategic approach to networking, as demonstrated by Wortmann through his old-school methods of phone calls and notes, combined with robust social-media activity, and regular updates to his broader network on platforms like LinkedIn.
