TIN #001 - How To Network If You Don't Know Anyone.
One tip to start networking without talking to strangers
Hey 👋 - Greg here.
Happy Saturday morning to everyone growing their network this week.
Here's one tip on how to grow your professional network without talking to strangers.
Today's issue takes about 4 minutes to read.
When I ask people why they aren't networking, they usually say something like this:
"I'm an introvert."
"It feels awkward."
"I don't have time."
"I don't want to bother people."
"I don't know who to connect with."
In this issue of The Introverted Networker, I'm going to talk about the last statement and show you how to start growing your network.
If you are new to networking, my advice is simple:
Start with who you know.
This advice surprises my students and clients.
They say, "That doesn't feel like networking. I already know those people. I need to meet new people."
They're forgetting they already have a network of people who can help them. The problem is, they don't think of these people their "network."
We all know someone.
We know:
Family
Friends
Alumni
Co-workers from your job
Co-workers from previous jobs
Co-workers who have left your company for other jobs
Connections from social, religious, or professional clubs
Connections you have met from existing networking activities
The Power of Dormant Ties
In his book Give and Take1, Adam Grant explains a concept called “dormant ties.”
Dormant ties are people you’ve worked with in the past but have lost touch with.
This concept is based on a study by the MIT Sloan School of Management2 where a group of executives was asked to make a list of people they had worked with in the past but had lost contact with over the years.
The executives were asked to send an email to these former colleagues and ask for their opinions on problems the executives were facing in their organizations.
The executives believed some of their dormant ties would respond, but they were surprised to find the response rate was higher than they expected.
The advice they received was also much more innovative and diverse than advice they received from people they interacted with every day.
The conclusion was the dormant ties already knew and trusted the executives from their past work experience, and due to these professional relationships, they were willing to help them.
Also, because these dormant ties had moved on to other endeavors, they had a different set of experiences to draw on when giving the executives advice.
This led to new perspectives that helped the executives think about the problems they were solving.
To start networking, use the dormant ties concept. It works because:
You have a place to start. You can create a list of people you already know. You don't need to do a ton of research on these people. Think about all the people you’ve worked with in the past and write their names down on a list.
You have their contact info. There's a good chance you either have email addresses for your dormant ties or you know how to find them. Again, this removes the barrier of searching for information on these people. If you don't have their contact info, you may already be connected with them through LinkedIn or other social media.
These people recognize your name. When you contact them, they’re going to see your name and respond to your message. Your message isn't going to go into the trash folder with all the other unsolicited emails they receive.
How To Get Started:
You're going to create a list of your dormant ties.
For this list, we're going to focus on people you've worked with in the past.
There are two ways to do this:
The first:
Look at your resume or LinkedIn profile and start with the last job you had.
Write down the names of everyone you can remember.
If you need help remembering who worked there, visualize what the office looked like and take a mental walk around the office. Who are the people you used to see every day? Add their names to your list.
The second:
Go to your LinkedIn profile and click on go to the Experience section. Pick one of the companies you worked for in the past.
Click on the logo of the company. You’ll go to the company page and there sill be a link that says, “[x number] other connections work here.” Click that link.
You’ll see a list of your 1st-degree connections that have this company listed as their current company of their profile.
Who are you already a 1st-degree connection with but haven't talked to in a long time? Add these people to your list if they aren't already on it.
You can switch the filters at the top of the page to 2nd-degree connections. Who are the people who are 2nd-degree connections that you know well enough to send a connection request to? Add these people to the list of people you are going to connect with.
You can also change the filters so that you are looking at people who have the company name as a past company they have worked for. This means your connections have left the company to go somewhere else. Look at these connections and add the ones to your list you would feel comfortable talking to.
Do this for every company where you have worked.
Don't overthink the list.
Write down names of dormant ties on a piece of paper, or in Word or Google document, or on a spreadsheet.
We are going to keep this list for future reference, so store this list where you can access it later.
After you've gone through this exercise, feel free to add other people to the list that come to mind.
People from industry or community groups. Friends and family if you would like.
This list is of people you already know.
Most likely, you haven’t talked to them in awhile.
These are your dormant ties.
This is your existing network.
This is where you'll start.
In the next issue, we'll talk about how you re-connect with them and start a conversation to grow your network.
Adam Grant, Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success (New York: Penguin Random House, LLC, 2014)
Daniel Z. Levin, Jorge Walter, J. Keith Murnighan, “The Power of Reconnection - How Dormant Ties Can Surprise You,” MIT Sloan Management Review 52, no. 3 (March 2011): 45-40.