Executive Coach Tip: Expand and Nurture Your Internal Network
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As you move UPWARD in your organization, it will become more and more important that you understand, appreciate and take into consideration the goals, challenges and activities of other departments and other functional areas in your organization. In the end, they're ALL connected to each other; they all share common goals from a big picture standpoint; and .... they are all interdepent -- dependent upon one another.

So .... what does this mean to YOU as an emerging leader? .... As someone who has a vested interest in expanding your scope of influence? As someone who will ultimately be called upon to take on bigger and bigger roles and responsibilities? As someone who will hopefully be looked upon as a key member of your organization's senior leadership team?

It means that developing and nurturing your internal network is a MUST DO. It means YOU must take an ACTIVE role in developing that network .... holding yourself accountable to building relationships; making it your personal responsibility to spend time with other team leaders.

Assertively seek out and get to know leaders and key members of other departments:
•Join them for lunch
•Invite them to lunch
•Meet them for an early cup of coffee
•Get to know them outside of your work environment
•Get involved in special projects that cut across multiple teams and get to know all of the team members
•Be alert for opportunities to spend time with them

Try this ....
•Write down the names of all the team leaders, department leaders, etc. in your organization -- look down, around and upward in the organization
•Score yourself on the quality of your relationship with each of those individuals
•Identify the ones you need to get to know over the next 30, 60, 90 days
•Develop a list of ideas for things you can do to get to know those individuals
•Do something THIS WEEK to take action on a couple of those ideas
•Do something next week ... and the following week
•Make it a weekly habit
•Re-score your relationships once a quarter and adjust your efforts accordingly