When Jocelyn Carter-Miller and Melissa Giovagnoli decided to collaborate on a book, they were both benefiting from the concept behind it. They also were practicing what they preach in their finished product, “Networlding: Building Relationships and Opportunities for Success” (Jossey-Bass, $25).
Carter-Miller is corporate vice president and chief marketing officer for Motorola Inc. Giovagnoli is the author of several business books and president of networlding.com, a management consulting organization.
They already were well established in their respective careers. But the project offered Carter-Miller an opportunity to express herself, and Giovagnoli gained another contributor’s help and insight.
The authors see their story as an example of successful “networlding,” which they define as the art of making meaningful connections, which can be leveraged in new and powerful ways.
Networlding goes beyond traditional networking because of its emphasis on cultivating long-term relationships with people who share your values.
Instead of building a network to advance your career, you are creating a support system filled with people who seek to share resources and help each other reach goals.
According to the book, networlding “recognizes the importance of collaboration over isolation, of information over capital, of diversity over uniformity, of values over amorality, of influence over power.” The fact that networlding is a collaborative process means that women may have an edge on men, say the authors, because women become grounded in sharing skills in childhood.
Generally speaking, the authors say, there has been “a spiritual evolution” in the workplace, with people looking for meaning from their jobs. The authors believe that deepening your connections with people is key to finding more meaning. If you have fulfilling relationships at work, “it becomes a place you get to go, not a place you have to go,” says Giovagnoli.
And Carter-Miller points out that tools like e-mail and telecommuting have blurred the line between our personal and professional worlds.
Technology also helps people with similar interests or common goals form worldwide communities, the authors say. And, they contend, people who use technology tend to make deeper and stronger connections than those who have only face-to-face communication.
For some people, the hardest part of the give-and-take process is reaching out. “People often fear that they have nothing to offer,” says Carter-Miller.
She counters that they can start off by being prepared to give emotional support.
The book outlines seven steps for successful networlding and features a chapter on the golden rules. Some highlights of the rules, culled from the book and from speaking with the authors, include the following:
Make the connection. Through your work, family, friends and community, you have far more connections than you might have thought.
Think and link. Sometimes close connections aren’t immediately obvious. This means you have to develop your instinct for looking beyond the surface and finding them.
Expand your connections. Be open to new possibilities and don’t impose strict boundaries on how you are or what you do.
Tap into as diverse a group as possible. Knowing lots of people in the same company or same location is helpful but you’ll be better off widening your circle to include people in different areas.
Nurture your relationships. Understand that it may take time for relationships to develop. Try to be patient as well as thoughtful about the other participants’ needs.
Make your exchanges meaningful. Be willing to take the risks that may come with meaningful exchanges. For example, give information freely, knowing it will be reciprocated.
Collaborate for success. Collaboration means people with shared values and compatible beliefs focusing on a single intent.
Be open to different partners. Remember that a mentor can learn as well as teach. “You can have rich experience at any age,” says Giovagnoli.
Strive for equality. At certain times, one member of a relationship may be giving more than the other. Understand that the give and take usually evens out over time. If, however, you find yourself involved with a partner who is only taking, first ask for what you want. If that doesn’t work, spend your energy developing other relationships.
Be willing to redefine success. Success doesn’t have to be a straight climb up the corporate ladder and may instead be a series of forward, backward and sideways moves. Each time you will gain knowledge, skills and financial rewards.
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e-mail: jfitzgerald@tribune.com
