Many people are uncomfortable with the idea of networking. Whether you are an extravert or introvert, it can often feel awkward and inauthentic. In this section, we will examine how you can overcome some of the barriers commonly perceived or experienced when networking.
How do you respond to the word ‘networking’? What does it make you think and feel? Think about attending a big academic conference – what might be the things concerning you as you travel to get there? How might you reframe these or otherwise get out of your own way?
Scenarios
- Confidence to approach new people
- It’s a critical, competitive environment
- I feel vulnerable or awkward presenting myself and my work to others
- Too exhausting: managing your energy levels
- I have nothing to offer someone senior: it feels awkward asking them for help
Know your offering
Being clear about what you could offer other researchers can help you to push your ‘imposter’ thoughts aside, and help you to be more articulate in mentioning these when you’re in conversation with others and actively listening to their interests and challenges. You may even want to put some of these on your online profile or social media. e.g. ‘Does anyone need help with…..’ or ‘Here’s something I heard that’s useful….’, Here’s how I ….”, “I can link you to…. “ and so on. In this video we look at the many ways that you could add value to others.
Build trust
We have evolved to (often subconsciously) mistrust the unfamiliar. This is what can make establishing a new relationship seem awkward – both of you are learning to trust one another. An understanding of what helps to build trust is a valuable element of being a credible and authentic networker. This video introduces some ideas about establishing trust that will be useful food for thought and will help you to plan how you approach networking in a productive way to build and maintain effective relationships and collaborations.
Develop active listening skills
A key skill of networking (and building trust) is the ability to really listen to other people. This video explains that there are different types of listening. An awareness of these and practicing active listening will help you to understand and build rapport with new contacts.
If you are interested in learning more, download this Questioning and listening skills questionnaire (doc) to reflect on your own listening style and how this might benefit those you are working with.
Related links
Lack of confidence, shyness, a strong inner critic, imposter syndrome:
There are many reasons why networking either doesn’t suit our personality or feels very challenging. Here is a selection of resources that can help you to further explore these and reframe your thoughts or practice ways to get out of your own way:
- What Am I Doing Here? A blog by Athene Donald on imposter syndrome
- Being shy or introverted: a series of perspectives on networking from The Shy Connector
- Understanding and tackling your inner critic in general – see section 2 in the PFDC wellbeing materials, but specifically the sections on the inner critic (sections 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5) :
- Dr Hugh Kearns, an academic who researches what helps researchers to be more effective, has an online guide to imposter syndrome
- Dr Brene Brown’s work on the power of vulnerability is thought provoking and useful in helping us to think about how to be more daring:
- Book: Daring greatly
- Ted talk: The power of vulnerability
- Website: www.brenebrown.com
- Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway – a guide to getting over your fears from Dr Susan Jeffers.
Building trust
The following resources expand on the metaphor introduced the video on trust:
- Video: "The Anatomy of Trust" Talk from Dr Brene Brown
- Charles Green the trusted advisor has developed The Trust Equation to help us better understand the elements of trust.
- Stephen Covey’s idea of the emotional bank account: paying in to build trust is described in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and a summary of the idea is available in a LinkedIn article by AbdulRahman Kutty.