We all pursue networking in the belief that it will help us move forward - that it will provide us ideas, information, access, referrals, support and accountability that will make us pursue and achieve challenging goals that we would have found difficult to pursue on our own.
That, in general, is how networks work - or are meant to. However, if you have been around long enough, you are sure to have experienced instances where your network holds you back - stops you from doing something you were keen on doing.
Now, that is not necessarily bad - it might just be your network helping you stay out of trouble. There are certainly cases where my network has helped me avoid serious consequences by warning or dissuading me from doing something rash or positively dangerous to my career. This is a valid and useful role that your network plays - provided their warning comes from real experience and is applicable to your situation.
But sometimes, people who are close to us can stop us from trying or doing something that is in our best interest. Now, just to be clear, they are not doing thsi to hold us back. They are doing it out of true concern - they genuinely believe it will not work, or it might even hurt us. That sounds like right thing except that their concern is based on belief - not on personal experience.
When this happens more than once in a while, it is a sign that you hav eoutgrown your network, and you should consider making some changes.
As we grow, personally and professionally, it is important that our network keeps pace. In fact, our network should always have a few people who are ahead of us in whatever journey we are in at the moment. Not just that, we should also have people in our network, who are on a journey that is of interest to us, but we are yet to embark on.
This is critical because, without real experience, any advice that we receive from people in our network can be a case of the blind leading the blind.
I can personally attest to this. I launched my practice as a full time coach, mentor and facilitator in 2015, a full 10 years after I started my coaching journey. When I started coaching, I did not have any intention of making it a full time profession - I felt my day job interesting and satisfying. However, a few years later, around 2010, I started feeling I should seriously consider switching to coaching full time.
When I sounded out my personal network - my sponsor, my mentors, and other key people in my network, the unanimous response was - "It's a bad idea!". I knew they had my best interests in mind - but their advice was based on belief, not experience. Almost everyone in my network was part of the same industry, or in a related industry. None of them had any experience of a career transition of kind I was contemplating.
From their perspective, I was walking away from a field I had extensively trained in, and had accumulated over 20 years of experience in. My career was progressing well, and they all expected significant growth for me. Also, I was working for a company that I openly admitted was my dream company. Leaving all this for something that I was interested in, but did not have a clear track record of seemed to them a risk not worth taking. Almost to a person, their advice was - continue coaching on the side if you wish, don't quit your day job.
This unanimous advice from my network made me reconsider - but not totally give up on my dream of making the transition to full time coaching. I realised that my network was incapable of providing me any real information or advice in this matter. So, I resolved to find some new people - those who had made this transition in their own careers, and make them part of my network.
Over the next few years, I cultivated new relationships with people who had undertaken the journey, and what I found gave me new information and perspectives that I could trust - because they were based on experience. This did not mean I could make switch immediately.On contrary, my discussions with these new mentors and network members convinced me that I had some work to do - in terms of additional skills, new relationships, and in terms of being financially and mentally prepared for transition.
It took me a further 5 years to get to the point where I felt I was ready,, and this time, I had advantage of having people in my network who could guide me, and help me make the transition, and provide support if the need arose.
Career transitions are always complex. Therefore it would be wrong to lay the entire blame on or give credit to networks. However, the influence of networks is undeniable, as are the limitations, and the need for your network to keep pace with your own aspirations and growth.
What is your current situation in this regard? Has your network kept pace with you, or have you outgrown your network?