This is part six of a blog series on The Nine Environments of You — a powerful coaching model designed to create balance in your life. Today we’ll focus on the Network environment. Your network consists of your strategic partners, customers, professional connections, greater community, and social networks. As you grow your network, it will play a significant role in designing the life you choose. You can read more about the Nine Environments model by visiting my previous blog post here.
Evolve and Grow Your Network
As your goals change, your network must evolve and grow. How can you align yourself with to create a supportive and thriving network? Are you networked with people who push you down or who lift you up?
In music, we “network” groups of notes together using chords to create harmony. These networks of notes support each other and are a vital part of how we experience the way a song sounds.
When several people get together to support each other toward achieving their goals, it’s called a mastermind group. When several people get together and they have negative attitudes and negative minds, it’s called a landmine group — they’ll blow up your dreams and tell you all the reasons why you will fail!
One way to boost success in anything you do is to surround yourself with people who support and encourage you.
If you are not currently in a mastermind group, consider joining or creating one. Choose the group and its members carefully. For more information about mastermind groups, check out Jack Canfield’s book, The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. He provides an entire chapter offering great tips about how to create and run a successful mastermind group.
In sports, we are taught to challenge the best players we can find because in doing so, our skill set will improve. In other words, network with those who are doing what you want to do, and soon you’ll be doing it, too.
“Wherever we’re going, we all need the help of others to get there. Don’t ever be afraid to ask for what you need. -Harvey Mackay
If you are the role model that everyone looks up to in your network, it’s time to upgrade your network — get out of your comfort zone — and spend some time with people you aspire to be like. If you are always comfortable, you are not growing. There are plenty of people who are ready and willing to support and assist you. Just remember to do the same for others when it’s your turn to help.
Stay Connected with Your Network
As you build your network, it’s important to collect and record information about each person. Do not rely on your memory for this. If you have a good CRM (Customer Relationship Manager), you may already have basic information. If not, record the following information for each person:
- Name, mailing address, phone, e-mail, web address
- Birthday (so you can mail them a birthday card each year on their special day)
- Where, when, and how you met them
- Anything interesting you learned about them (hobbies, special interests or skills, family information, career/business information, goals, challenges, etc.). This is very important to make a note of as it will help you remember topics important to them — a key element to building a meaningful relationship.
- Dated record of all follow-up contact you’ve made (call, e-mail, card, letter, etc.)
The size of your network determines the size of your net worth when you cultivate relationships. Most people attend networking events and then never follow up with the people they’ve just met. Make it a goal to meet at least one new person every week day and add them to your contacts. Do this five days a week, and you’ll add more than 250 new people to your contact manager each year. As you live your life, you’ll naturally meet new people. Make a point of getting their contact information and then keep in touch in a meaningful way.
Implement a Simple Keep-in-Touch System
Begin by sending a “nice to meet you” or “thanks for your time” card in the mail, perhaps with a fun selfie of you and the person you just met. I’ve been using a keep-in-touch system for years. If you don’t have one in place, I’m happy to share information about what I use.
In reality you will actively stay in touch with 20% of your contacts at any given time. Having quality information that is current, accurate, and easy-to-access is important. My top 20% receives the following from me:
- Cards (birthday, holiday, appreciation, encouragement, congratulations, sympathy, etc.)
- Phone calls to check in and see how they’re doing and how I can support them
- E-mails to forward information I’ve come across that I think will be helpful or meaningful to them
- Occasional meetings for coffee, breakfast, or lunch to learn more about them and their needs
For the other 80%, you’ll need a good system to handle quantity. You need to stay connected in a way that does not require a lot of effort on your part. I stay connected with the other 80% in the following ways:
- Birthday and holiday greeting cards (not e-cards)
- Blog articles I write weekly and send to my subscribers
- Social media posts on Facebook and Linkedln
No matter where I go, I always carry some of my own business cards. I also carry some “blank” business cards with me in the event that someone I meet does not have a business card with them, or in case their business card does not include their mailing address.
The back of this card is blank for jotting down personal notes about interests, affiliations, connections, family, accomplishments, goals, or anything else I want to remember about the person I’ve just met. This gets recorded in the “notes” section of my contact manager. These notes become a key part of my success in building relationships. Although I don’t have great memory recall, my ability to access my notes would lead people to think otherwise!
If I’ve established some rapport with someone, I also ask them to provide me with their birthday (date and month only), telling them that I like to send birthday cards. This has had a huge impact on the growth of my network and on building relationships. Occasionally I receive a message from a birthday card recipient, telling me that mine was the only one they received in the mail and how much it meant. Receiving a birthday card makes them feel remembered and cared about.
“People will forget what you said; people will forget what you did; but people will never forget how you made them feel.” -Maya Angelou
What Are You Tolerating?
Below are some questions to help you get clear about what you are tolerating in your Network environment:
- Is my network comprised mostly of “givers” or “takers”?
- When I network, am I giving to give or giving to get? Am I giving with no attachment to the outcome and no expectation of return? Do I add value to the other person?
- Do I network locally and globally in a way that supports my goals? Do I have a broad and diverse enough network that I can access people I do not yet know through the people I have formed a relationship with?
- When people see me coming, are they excited to see me, or do they typically try to avoid me?
- Am I able to quickly and easily find information and resources I need through my network?
- Do I belong to a mastermind group that supports my desire to learn and grow?
- Do I leverage social networks online to build relationships?
- Do I express a genuine curiosity about people I meet?
- Am I capturing contact information in a system, so I can creatively and intentionally keep the relationship growing over time, or am I relying on my memory?
- Do I stay connected on a regular basis with people I have met through my networking? Am I positively remembered?
Once you’ve answered the questions above, you’ll have greater clarity about what needs some attention in your Network environment. I encourage you to identify some “upgrades” you desire, as well as specific actions you will take, and by when.
Here’s an example of what that looks like:
Upgrades desired in my Network environment:
- Meet new people who can serve as role models or mentors to me.
- Focus 80% of my relationship-building time on the 20% of people who can help me stretch and grow professionally.
- Attract more referrals. Don’t ask for them, deserve them!
- Pay it forward by helping others in my network.
Actions to be taken by when:
- Join (name of group or association) by (date).
- Starting today, limit my time to no more than 30 minutes a day on social media, e-mail, web surfing, and other potential time wasters. Connect only with those with whom I have a clear purpose for connecting.
- In everything that I do, show up in service: give to give, not to get!
- Starting tomorrow, intentionally build my network by adding a new contact each day to my contact manager. Send a “nice to meet you” card after the first meeting. Stay in touch by occasionally sending helpful information or offering support.
Now, it’s your turn to identify the upgrades you desire, the actions you will take, and by when. I encourage you to choose ONE thing you will do to upgrade your Network environment and commit to spending 15 minutes to take immediate action. As you do this with each environment, get ready to experience synchronicity in your life like never before, as things fall into place.
If you’d like a fresh perspective– someone to help you design the balanced life you want by aligning your vision, priorities, and actions—let’s schedule a no-cost, no-pressure Discovery Call today.
Additional Resources:
- Blog: Balance Your Life: The 9 Environments of You (overview)
- Blog: Balance Your Life: Environment #1 – Memetic/Mental
- Blog: Balance Your Life: Environment #2 – Body
- Blog: Balance Your Life: Environment #3 – Self
- Blog: Balance Your Life: Environment #4 – Spiritual
- Blog: Balance Your Life: Environment #5 – Relationships
- Blog: Be Remembered: Tips for Writing Effective Message (make it personal)
- Blog: Be Remembered: Tips for Writing Effective Message (mixed messages)
- Blog: Be Remembered: Tips for Writing Effective Messages (meaningful messages & graphics)
