When people hear ‘networking’ they usually picture something specific: a name badge on, walking around with a cup of tea or coffee (maybe even a snack if you’re lucky), a couple of awkward introductions before listening to a key note speaker and a stack of business cards nobody follows up on.
I was reminded this week, that networking isn’t always an event. It’s a community.
It’s the group of people you’ve built around you who you can turn to with questions, ask for support, share opportunities with, and learn from. It’s not always something that you attend. It’s something that you cultivate, continuously, in the background of every day work and life.
How do you build a network?
Start by refining your personal brand. Before you can build meaningful relationships, you need clarity on what you bring to the table and what you want people to think of when they think of you.
Ask yourself: What do you want to be known for?
This is the question that shapes everything else. It’s not about crafting a polished tagline or performing a version of yourself online. It’s about getting honest with what you value, where you add the most value to others and what kind of reputation you want to earn over time – one interaction at a time.
Once you have an answer, even a rough one, everything else starts to get easier. You know who to reach out to, what conversations are worth having, what events to attend. You know what to say yes to, and what to let go of. Your network stops being a random collection of contacts and starts being a community that reflects and reinforces who you are.
Putting it into practice
Knowing what you want to be known for is one thing. Living it consistently is another.
Here’s how I do it, practically: I have a sticky note on my desk. It’s not fancy, it’s not ‘motivational poster material’, but it’s one question, written by hand, that I look at more often that I’d like to admit. “Am I acting in alignment?”
I have worked hard and spend the time reflecting on what I want to be known for, so when I’m in a moment where I feel lost, unsure, or torn between options, I try not to figure out the ‘right answer’ from scratch. I ask myself that question and it helps to point me towards my answer or action. My sticky note has turned a big, sometimes scary thought around ‘personal branding’ into something small and repeatable that I ask myself daily. And that’s the point. A personal brand isn’t a statement you write once, it’s a series of small decisions that either align with it or don’t.
The Real Work is Consistency
None of this works as a one off exercise. You don’t refine your brand, put it into practice for a week, and call it done. Consistency is what turns your personal brand from something you say into something you are known for. It’s what turns a network from a list of names, into a community that trusts you, vouches for you, speaks your name in rooms that you’re not in.
So build your community. Get clear on what you want to be known for and then keep asking yourself if you’re acting in alignment.
That’s my version of networking, and it started with one honest question…
