Advancement Tip: Your network may be just as important as your manager
Several of my clients recently finalized their end-of-year reviews with their direct managers. Unfortunately, they are leaving these sessions disappointed by receiving unclear feedback or not being given a clearly defined career path, feeling over-reliant on one person to champion their development and advancement.
Working with and “managing up” to your direct manager is important, but what many don’t realize is that there are several people across the organization who can influence your career trajectory. Promote Leaders has developed a proprietary Career Stakeholder Map, shown below, approaching the concept of expanding your network through the lens of a stakeholder map, a tactic often used for large change management initiatives.
Being intentional while building your network is especially important with hybrid work where spontaneous connections may be limited. The purpose of the Career Stakeholder Map is to pinpoint and link you with people who can assist in bridging the skill set void, expanding your repertoire, enhancing your visibility, and openly endorsing your value.
Step 1 is reflecting on your current network and assigning them to each of the stakeholder quadrants.
Step 2 involves pinpointing the gaps and adopting a bold, inventive, and considerate mindset, incorporating individuals who might complement and contrast with you – coming from a different department, possessing a unique skill set, belonging to another generation, employing a contrasting leadership method, or utilizing a different communication approach.
When completing your map, start with a prioritized few and expand from there. The ideal partners are those who will positively amplify your brand (y axis) and expand your skill set (x axis), but each quadrant has value. Definitions below:
Direct leadership: This would include your direct leadership reporting line and other senior influential leaders who work with you. These roles are most likely to be in the room when promotions or key assignments are decided. Consider executives who may be a few levels higher as well.
People you influence: These are your staff, mentees, peers who know you and your work and are willing to speak publicly about the value you bring, internally and externally (think LinkedIn reviews).
Poor leaders/negative peers: As potential roadblocks to your career, be thoughtful about how you want to engage. There may be opportunities to turn relationships around where they become your biggest advocates, but if not, manage your messages and time investment very carefully when you are required to interact.
Respected specialist: These individuals are key to learning new skills. Maybe someone who is an expert at social media, relationship management, project management, or building strategy as examples. The respected specialist is often happy to share their insights, provide advice or objective feedback, and they also have a lot of credibility within the organization if they choose to speak up on your behalf. One way to find them is to look at who’s been recently promoted across departments, not just yours.
As you finalize each quadrant, think through the following questions before completing the final step, Step 3, of reaching out:
What is their expertise, what can I learn from them? Does this help achieve my career goals? Which one? Be specific.
In what venue do they shine? Boardroom, watercooler, team building events? Does this align to where I need more exposure?
Can they make introductions externally? Clients, LinkedIn influencers, industry events or networking groups?
How do they prefer to communicate? Mode (virtual, lunch, etc.), style (direct, data driven, etc.) and how often?
What can I share to make it a win/win relationship? How can I help them, their team, etc.? Be generous. Note: this is critical to creating a genuine relationship.
Though not covered here, give some thought to aligning this outreach with your personal brand and what you want to be known for within the organization.
Keep your goals and the experiences you’d like to gain top of mind but stay flexible. As you meet new people, new opportunities you couldn’t have imagined may be revealed, giving you more control over your career development and reducing your reliance on one person for growth.
To receive additional tips on managing up, especially for understanding and communicating with your quadrant of direct leadership, reach out to me directly for a 1:1 consultation.