When questioned, many executives reveal that meeting influential people is an important strategy to employ as a means of increasing their vocational worth.
So how does one go about achieving this tactically? In the past, it wasn’t what you did but who you knew that mattered. It was called networking.
Today, it’s not just who you know but how that relationship evolves that makes a difference. And that process is called championship. The definition of a champion is “someone who defends a person or a cause.”
Networking is necessarily part of that definition, but championship goes much deeper than that. It is the creation of what I call “circles of coincidence” and “purposeful collision” within your work and your life.
Those who do not spend a minimum of 30 percent of their time building championships are going to find it difficult to succeed in today’s world.
Here are a few pointers about creating a championship plan:
Championship requires money, time and resources. Championships among peers, industry influencers, press and customers are not gained by a random phone call when you need something, but rather by keeping a tightly managed database of contacts that requires weekly, monthly and quarterly attention.
Championship should be built into every single person’s career plan; it warrants a line on every individual’s sales budgets; and it often requires other resources to manage these relationships (i.e., the creation of and maintenance of the database itself).
A championship “plan” is the only way to ensure that a relatively intangible concept (finding and relating to people who will defend you and your ideas) is accountable and measurable against your specific goals.
Champions come in all shapes and sizes. They tend to fall into three categories:
CHEERLEADERS provide you with moral support. They are the people you turn to when the chips are down or the stakes are high. They often have good advice to give you, but their ability to keep you motivated and brave is key.
Cheerleaders can be found in a friend, an associate, pen pal, a parent or a spouse. Keep them in your close circles. Never underestimate their power to motivate.
INFLUENCERS are often not the final decision-makers within an organization or an industry, but can greatly sway opinion among peers and superiors.
Influencers are crucial for everyone, but particularly for anyone who is in sales and/or in a start-up company. Why? Because an influencer can often position a new idea, an unusual product or service so that it is acceptable to decision-makers who may otherwise never give you any airtime. This is particularly true of developing a championship network within larger corporations and organizations.
DOERS are action-oriented people. They are oftenworking within or close to sales. Doers are on the lookout for people and companies who produce tangible results and are often the most accessible champions to partner with.
In mapping out your championships, remember that each category is equally important and that each kind of champion complements the other. Maintain a constant rotation of players that best reflects your goals and objectives within a given time period.
The benefits of a wide range of champions, across industries and within companies, who will work to defend you and your cause (i.e. product/service), warrant at least 30 percent of your time. In a future column, we will discuss some strategies for enhancing championships.
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Ellie Rubin is a syndicated business columnist, author and co-founder of the Bulldog Group Inc. E-mail your comments and questions for Rubin to tribjobs@tribune.com.
